MR LATVIA was represented at the 31st International Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems (ICMRBS 2026), held from 23 to 27 August 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. The conference brought together researchers working in magnetic resonance and biological systems from around the world, providing an important platform for presenting new research and developing international collaborations.
Dr. Alons Lends, Head of the NMR Centre at the National Institute of Research and Innovation and coordinator of the MR LATVIA project, represented Latvian magnetic resonance research at the conference.
On 24 August, Dr. Lends presented the poster “Integrative NMR techniques for structural and dynamic characterization of virus-like particles in vaccine formulation.” The work demonstrates how complementary NMR techniques can be integrated to characterise both the structure and dynamics of virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccine constructs.
The research is the result of collaboration between researchers in Latvia, France and Italy, bringing together Jana Petkus, Diana Niño-Avellaneda and Alvis Zvirgzdiņš in Riga with Marco Schiavina, Roberta Pierattelli and Isabella Caterina Felli from the CERM/CIRMMP Infrastructure, one of MR LATVIA’s partner centres. The collaboration illustrates the international research network that MR LATVIA aims to develop by connecting Latvian expertise with leading European magnetic resonance infrastructure, including both partners centres: Solid-state NMR capacities at CNRS Lyon, France and Solution NMR at CERM/ CIRMMP Infrastructure, Florence, Italy.
Jana Petkus also presented research from the Latvian team at ICMRBS 2026. Her contribution, “Combined Solution- and Solid-State NMR Characterization of Structure and Dynamics in a VLP-α-synuclein Vaccine Prototype,” was presented as a flash presentation and Poster #61.
The study focuses on a vaccine prototype for Parkinson’s disease in which α-synuclein is conjugated to AP205 virus-like particles. The resulting construct presents significant challenges for conventional structural characterisation, making the combination of solution-state and solid-state NMR particularly valuable.
The two NMR approaches provide complementary information: solution-state NMR enables the characterisation of flexible regions of the construct, while solid-state NMR provides access to more rigid components.
The study demonstrated several important findings:
- 88% of the α-synuclein in the prototype was detected, and the protein remained predominantly disordered.
- Anti-α-synuclein antibody binding was comparable to that observed for oligomer-like α-synuclein.
- New NMR signals from the AP205 VLP and linker were resolved using solid-state NMR.
The work was conducted by Jana Petkus, Alvis Zvirgzdiņš, Ilva Lieknina, Kaspars Tars and Alons Lends, representing the National Institute of Research and Innovation and the University of Latvia Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences.
The presentations at ICMRBS 2026 highlight the breadth of magnetic resonance research being developed within Latvia and through MR LATVIA’s international partnerships.
By combining solution-state and solid-state NMR expertise and making use of complementary research infrastructure in Latvia and Europe, the teams are addressing complex questions in structural biology and vaccine development that cannot be fully resolved using a single analytical technique.
Participation in ICMRBS 2026 provided an opportunity to present these results to the international magnetic resonance community, exchange expertise with researchers from around the world, and further develop collaborations that support the goals of the MR LATVIA project.
MR LATVIA continues to build connections between Latvian researchers and international magnetic resonance centres, strengthening Latvia’s capacity in advanced NMR research and creating new opportunities for collaborative research in life sciences, biotechnology and medicine.