Towards modelling the human colon microbiota dynamics: an applied systems biology approach Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Large-intestinal hydrogen production affects both colon ecosystem stability ...
In spite of the importance of the gastrointestinal microbiota in health and disease, interactions between key groups of colon microorganisms are underexplored. Quantitative data, enabling dynamic model development, is currently lacking. The present project proposes to explore the dynamics of a simplified human intestinal microbiota in vitro and in silico.
Large-intestinal hydrogen production affects both colon ...
The novel single-cell technologies allow to determine the genetic profile of each individual cell per organ. This way, researchers have recently identified novel cell types and activation states that correlate with disease progression or specific developmental stages. However, these techniques are carried out on digested tissue samples and don’t give any information on the precise location of cells. Unfortunately, to fully understand how ...
Over the past decades, the development of microbial cell factories for industrial applications was limited by the over-reliance on non-optimal model organisms. These non-optimal hosts are applied in bioproduction processes or for bioengineering. However, typically cell resources are used inefficiently, and there is a toxic build-up of intermediates, causing a metabolic burden and leading to lower yields and suboptimal processes. Indeed, a ...
The production of proteins by using genetically modified organisms has become a multibillion-euro industry thanks to the multitude of applications. Specifically in the pharmaceutical industry, proteins are being produced in this manner to obtain a reliable and cost-efficient production process. However, the optimisation of these complex production processes is not yet taking advantage of the state-of-theart computational techniques that are ...
There is growing evidence that bacteria form biofilm aggregates in synovial fluid (SF) and surface-attached biofilms on prostheses. If we want to study these biofilms in the context of prosthetic joint infections (PJI) we need better in vitro models. We also need better tools to detect and isolate relevant pathogens from PJI samples as well as novel approaches to better predict clinical success of an antimicrobial treatment. Our preliminary ...
The pituitary is the master regulator of our hormonal system. Injury and aging are key threats to its vital role in governing body physiology. We discovered that the (mouse) pituitary can regenerate its cells after local injury, a competence however quickly vanishing at aging. Here, we will in-depth decipher the mechanisms underlying pituitary stem cell activation and ensuing regeneration, and why this fails with aging. By applying ...