{"id":102,"date":"2015-03-20T00:56:29","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T22:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kbfi.ee\/?page_id=102"},"modified":"2026-02-25T16:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:14:08","slug":"cb","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/cb\/","title":{"rendered":"Chemical biology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The mission of the\u00a0<strong>Chemical Biology Laboratory<\/strong>\u00a0(CBL, formerly the Bioenergetics Laboratory) is to understand disease-related alterations in cellular energy metabolism. Our research insights can be applied to improve disease diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment strategies.<\/p>\n<p>Research in the CBL is primarily focused on\u00a0<strong>mitochondrial<\/strong>\u00a0function in living cells and the factors influencing its activity. We apply\u00a0<strong>systems biology approaches,<\/strong>\u00a0specifically\u00a0<strong>systems-level cell bioenergetics<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>fluxomics<\/strong>\u00a0(the analysis of metabolic fluxes), combining both experimental studies and mathematical modeling. This strategy allows us to gain deeper insights into the regulatory mechanisms of energy metabolism and to pinpoint the mechanisms underlying pathological changes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The laboratory\u2019s main research topics include:<\/strong><br \/>\n\u2022 Alterations in energy metabolism and transfer during the development of cancer cells. The study materials include human colorectal and breast cancer clinical samples, as well as cancer cell culture models.<br \/>\n\u2022 Regulation of the respiratory chain and integrated energy consumption networks in muscle cells.<br \/>\n\u2022 Investigation of whether, and how, chronic disease-related metabolic changes are reflected in the energy production of blood cells, with a focus on platelets as a model system.<br \/>\n\u2022 Enhancing the reliability of cell culture models for disease studies through growth condition optimization.<br \/>\n\u2022 Modeling and investigation of oxidative stress in cancer, cardiac, and neuronal cell cultures.<\/p>\n<p>The CBL has established both the theoretical and experimental foundation for the advancement of fundamental and applied research in cell bioenergetics. Collaboration with international research groups plays a central role in our projects \u2013 through direct partnerships as well as joint initiatives within Horizon Europe, COST Actions, and EEA Grants. In Estonia, CBL maintains strong collaborations with all major hospitals in Tallinn, the Tartu University Hospital, as well as with Tallinn University of Technology, the University of Tartu, and Tallinn University. Graduate students from these universities are actively involved in the laboratory\u2019s research projects and have successfully defended their theses under the supervision of our scientists.<br \/>\nThe head of the CBL, Lead Researcher Dr. Tuuli K\u00e4\u00e4mbre, and the laboratory\u2019s research were recognized with the Estonian National Research Award in 2023. The laboratory\u2019s work is positively evaluated in two areas of the European Commission Classification of Sciences (CERCS): natural sciences, and biomedicine.<\/p>\n<p>Further information\u00a0from Tuuli K\u00e4\u00e4mbre\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:tuuli@kbfi.ee\">tuuli.kaambre@kbfi.ee<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The mission of the\u00a0Chemical Biology Laboratory\u00a0(CBL, formerly the Bioenergetics Laboratory) is to understand disease-related alterations in cellular energy metabolism. Our research insights can be applied to improve <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/cb\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"tpl-flexible.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-102","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kbfi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}