A new research project has been launched at the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences within the framework of the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship, which started on May 1, 2026, supports the research work of Dr. András Tóth in the research group of Dr. László Hunyady. The project, entitled “NanoFLiR: Quantitative super-resolution mapping of the ligand-accessible receptor pool in tissue,” is being carried out in collaboration between the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences and Indiana University Bloomington.
The NanoFLiR basic research project aims to map more precisely the tissue localization of important drug-target receptors in nervous system and kidney tissues, and to investigate which of these receptors are accessible to drug molecules. The research will initially focus on tissue-level investigation of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor, followed by the AT1 angiotensin II receptor. The project uses photoaffinity-based fluorescent ligands and super-resolution microscopy. The design and synthesis of the new fluorescent ligands will be carried out at the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences with the contribution of Dr. György Keserű’s research group.
As part of the fellowship, Dr. András Tóth will spend 16 months in the United States at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University, in the laboratories of Dr. Ken Mackie and Dr. István Katona. The international research period will be followed by a 12-month phase in Hungary, aimed at applying and integrating the acquired methodological expertise into the research activities of HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences.
The work is expected to contribute new experimental and image analysis methods, as well as scientific data, to the fields of receptor pharmacology, neurobiology, and kidney research. The project is basic research in nature; its goal is to enable a more precise and quantitative investigation of receptor accessibility in tissue.
The NanoFLiR project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, grant agreement No. 101270269.
