ABC workshop 2026 – symposium on lipid transporters

Lipid transporters are essential for cellular function and play important roles in health and disease. Despite their physiological and medical significance, many fundamental questions remain about how these proteins recognize and transport specific lipids, how their activity is regulated by the surrounding membrane environment, and how they contribute to cellular function. Addressing these questions requires complementary expertise and approaches spanning molecular biology, biochemistry, membrane biophysics, and structural biology.

The ABC Workshop 2026 brought together researchers from Aarhus University, Ruhr University Bochum, and the University of Copenhagen to exchange knowledge, discuss current experimental challenges, and explore new approaches to lipid transporter research. The workshop welcomed 17 participants, including three postdoctoral researchers and five PhD students, providing a forum for scientific exchange across career stages and research groups.

The scientific programme covered lipid transporters in mammalian, plant, and bacterial systems, combining research presentations with extensive group discussions. Topics included transporter structure and substrate specificity, the roles of lipid transport in cell survival, development and stress responses, and the influence of membrane composition and potential cofactors on transporter function. Participants also exchanged expertise in transporter isolation and purification, microscopy-based functional analysis, and cryo-electron microscopy for protein structure determination.

A central feature of the workshop was the open discussion of ongoing research and experimental challenges. These exchanges enabled participants to critically evaluate experimental approaches, explore alternative techniques, and identify new perspectives for their individual projects.

The workshop concluded with discussions of future research directions and potential collaborations between the three participating laboratories. By bringing together complementary expertise across different organisms and experimental methods, the event established a basis for continued scientific exchange and collaborative research.

For the PhD student who organized the workshop, the event also provided valuable experience in coordinating an international scientific meeting and facilitating collaboration across institutions.

We thank all partners for their generous support and sincerely thank the RUB Research School for funding and supporting the event.

The workshop was organized by Lasse Bredegaard. If you have any questions about the event, he will be happy to hear from you via e-mail.