Kristoffer Sahlholm

Kristoffer Sahlholm

Affiliated to Research
Visiting address: Solnavägen 9, Biomedicum C4, 17165 Solna
Postal address: C3 Fysiologi och farmakologi, C3 FyFa FK Genetisk och farmakologisk epidemiologi, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • My research is focused on G protein-coupled receptors, in particular dopamine
    receptors, and their interactions with natural and synthetic ligands.
    I finished my PhD at the Dept. of Neuroscience, KI, in 2011 (labs of Drs.
    Peter Århem and Kjell Fuxe). My thesis was focused on the regulation of
    dopamine receptors by transmembrane voltage and made use of electrophysiology
    to study receptor signaling. My postdoctoral work included fluorescence-based
    signaling assays and behavioral pharmacology (University of Barcelona, Spain


  • Dr. Francisco Ciruela), autoradiography (Washington University in St. Louis,
    MO, Dr. Robert H. Mach), radioligand binding (University of Pennsylvania, PA,
    Dr. Robert H. Mach), rodent PET imaging (University of Groeningen

  • Netherlands, Drs. Philip Elsinga and Aren van Waarde), and rodent fMRI (ETH,
    Switzerland, Drs. Marcus Rudin and Aileen Schroeter).
    Since 2018, I am a group leader at the Dept. of Medical and Translational Biology 

  • (tenured since 2024
  • see external link, top right), Umeå University, while maintaining active affiliations with 

  • the Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology, KI, as well as with the Dept. of
    Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Barcelona.

Research

  • Psychotic disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder with mania, and
    schizoaffective disorder) are believed to affect about 3% of the global
    population and are characterized by delusions and hallucinations. Dopamine
    receptors form the main targets for antipsychotic therapy. However, current
    medication does not adequately address all aspects of schizophrenia
    symptomatology and, in addition, is fraught with troublesome side effects. It
    has been postulated that the time course of drug-receptor interactions, as
    well as the differential engagement of neurotransmitter receptor subtypes,
    may influence both side effect profiles and clinical efficacies of
    antipsychotics.
    Our group investigates the modes of action of current and experimental
    antipsychotic drugs, with the aim to inform the development of novel,
    improved therapeutics. We are also interested in the interplay of different
    neurotransmitter systems at the cellular as well as the whole-animal level.
    We use time-resolved live-cell signaling assays to examine drug-receptor
    interactions, as well as behavioral readouts in rodents to characterize the
    in vivo actions of experimental and clinically used drugs.

Articles

All other publications

Employments

  • Affiliated to Research, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-2026

Degrees and Education

  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 2011
  • Master Of Medical Science, Karolinska Institutet, 2010

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