Vesa Hytönen

I am interested in protein function and interactions. In particular, I would like to understand how mechanical signals regulate protein conformation and function.

Olen solu- ja molekyylibiologian professori. Johdan monitieteistä tutkimusryhmää. Toimin Biosciences-yksikön (BIO) päällikkönä.

Protein engineering, mechanobiology, vaccine research, protein interactions

Suomen Akatemian BTY-toimikunnan jäsen. LUMATE-toimikunta, Jufo-paneeli

PhD University of Jyväskylä 2005

Postdoc ETH Zurich 2005-07

Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Researcher 2007-10

Academy Research Fellow 2010-15

Associate Professor 2016-20

Professor 2020-

10 recent articles:

Muktesh Athale, Neil Ball, Latifeh Azizi, Irene Valenzuela, Marta Codina, Andrea Martin-Nalda, Vasyl V. Mykuliak, Rolle Rahikainen, Benjamin T. Goult*, Paula Turkki*, Vesa P. Hytönen* (2025). De novo talin-1 variant L353F connects multifaceted clinical symptoms to alterations in talin-1 function. Biochem. J. 482(18):1337-1352

Latifeh Azizi, Yasumi Otani, Vasyl V Mykuliak, Benjamin T Goult, Vesa P Hytönen, Paula Turkki  Talin-1 variants associated with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) highlight how even subtle changes in multi-functional scaffold proteins can manifest in disease (2024). Hum Mol Genet. 33, 1846-1857.

Vili Lampinen*, Markus J.T. Ojanen, Fernanda Munoz Caro, Stina Gröhn, Minna M. Hankaniemi, Marko Pesu, Vesa P. Hytönen. Experimental VLP vaccine displaying a furin antigen elicits production of autoantibodies and is well tolerated in mice (2024). Nanoscale Adv., 6, 6239-6252.

Vasyl V Mykuliak, Rolle Rahikainen, Neil J Ball, Giovanni Bussi, Benjamin T Goult, Vesa P Hytönen. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal how vinculin refolds partially unfolded talin rod helices to stabilize them against mechanical force (2024). PLoS Comput. Biol. 20, e1012341.

Rolle Rahikainen, Susan K Vester, Paula Turkki, Chasity P Janosko, Alexander Deiters, Vesa P Hytönen*, Mark Howarth*. Visible light-induced specific protein reaction delineates early stages of cell adhesion (2023). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145, 24459–24465

Latifeh Azizi, Lorena Varela, Paula Turkki, Vasyl V Mykuliak, Sanna Korpela, Teemu O Ihalainen, Joseph Church, Vesa P Hytönen, Benjamin T Goult. Talin variant P229S compromises integrin activation and associates with multifaceted clinical symptoms (2022). Hum. Mol. Genet. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddac163. 

Jenni Leppiniemi, Zeeshan Mutahir, Alexander Dulebo, Piia Mikkonen, Markus Nuopponen, Paula Turkki, Vesa P Hytönen (2021) Avidin-Conjugated Nanofibrillar Cellulose Hydrogel Functionalized with Biotinylated Fibronectin and Vitronectin Promotes 3D Culture of Fibroblasts. Biomacromolecules 22, 4122-4137.

Vili Lampinen, Suvi Heinimäki, Olli Laitinen, Marko Pesu, Minna Hankaniemi*, Vesna Blazevic*, Vesa P. Hytönen* (2021) Modular vaccine platform based on the norovirus-like particle. J. Nanobiotech., 19, 1-14.

Latifeh Azizi, Alana R. Cowell, Vasyl V. Mykuliak, Benjamin T. Goult*, Paula Turkki*, Vesa P. Hytönen* (2021) Cancer associated talin point mutations disorganise cell adhesion and migration. Sci. Rep., 11, 347.

Pingfeng Zhang, Latifeh Azizi, Sampo Kukkurainen*, Tong Gao*, Mo Baikoghli*, Marie-Claude Jacquiere*, Yijuan Sun, Juha A. E. Määttä, R. Holland Cheng, Bernhard Wehrle-Haller, Vesa P. Hytönen, Jinhua Wu (2020) Crystal structure of the FERM-folded talin head reveals the determinants for integrin binding. PNAS, 117, 32402-32412.