Projects

As part of a preventive environment and health, there is a strong need for the development of new biomarkers of exposure and / or effects of environmental pollutants, which already give an indication of possible health effects at an early stage. Measuring gene expression in peripheral blood using microarray is an attractive concept. The underlying hypothesis is that circulating blood reflects the physiological response of an organism, and ...

Studying expression of individual alleles could learn us more about possible molecular causes of diseases such as cancer, yet existing methods are too expensive or yield only incomplete information. In this project we will develop a novel, cheaper and more comprehensive methodology, based on population genetics concepts and statistical modelling, and demonstrate its relevance in a cancer case study.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process leading to a reversible switch from a polarized epithelial phenotype to a motile and mesenchymal phenotype. EMT is an essential process in embryonic development and in adult life in several physiological (e.g. wound healing) and pathological processes (e.g. fibrosis, cancer progression). In our research group we are focusing on the Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB) family ...

ArrayCGH analysis has shown that deletions and/or amplifications in T-ALL are present in genomic regions which contain certain microRNAs and microRNA clusters. An integrated analysis of microRNA expression profiles and arrayCGH analysis (oligo-array specifically enriched for microRNAs and microRNA clusters), will possibly lead to discovery of deletions and/or amplifications in T-ALL through deregulation of these specific microRNAs.

In vivo antibody expression via antibody gene transfer is at crossroads between antibody and gene therapy. Following administration of the DNA that encodes a therapeutic antibody, the site of delivery, e.g. muscle, is turned into an antibody 'factory’, resulting in the presence of antibodies in the blood for a prolonged period of time. This innovative approach addresses several challenges associated with conventional antibody proteins, such ...

The heart is composed of many cells types, out of which cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts form the majority. Cardiac myocytes are the muscle cells, which are responsible for the rhythmic beating of the heart. Fibroblasts produce proteins which maintain the architecture of the heart. However, after heart attack whereby muscle cells are lost (infarction), fibroblasts modify themselves to become myofibroblasts. These cells produce collagen that ...