Projects
Translational control in infection biology: the role of sORFs in Salmonella pathogenesis. Ghent University
High-throughput applications such as next-generation sequencing are frequently applied in modern biological and medical research allowing for comprehensive studies at the scale unattainable by classical techniques. Recent technology advancements enable protein translation measurement on the mRNA level by massive sequencing of ribosome-captured messenger RNA footprints (i.e. ribosome profiling). This project proposal is situated on the ...
Redesigning Biology: Changing the substrate requirements of DNA polymerases by directed evolution KU Leuven
All polymerases make use of nucleotide triphosphates as substrates, incorporating the nucleobase, sugar, and α-phosphate onto the growing chain, while discarding a pyrophosphate moiety (β and γ phosphates). In this context, the pyrophosphate is nature’s leaving group – activating the nucleotide monophosphate, and facilitating the reaction, but not a part of the final product. Other leaving groups are chemically possible (such as the ...
Role of c-Myc-PP2A negative feedback control in liver biology: new avenues for improved treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. KU Leuven
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a deadly cancer with limited treatment options. This project exploits our recent discovery of spontaneous HCC development in mice lacking the B'65 subunit of PP2A, a phosphatase family with tumor suppressive functions. The observed HCC phenotype was causally linked to loss of a negative feedback loop between the oncoprotein c-Myc and PP2A, which, due to PP2A inactivity, results in full-blown c-Myc ...
Autumn meeting of the Belgian Society for Cell and Developmental Biology: Endoderm and endoderm derivatives in development and disease. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
endoderm differentiates into the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, and gives rise to thyroid,
lung, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas and intestine. Fundamental studies have identified
mechanisms that govern the differentiation of the endoderm and its derived organs. Knowledge of
developmental processes sheds light on ...
PROPHECY: Translational control in infection biology: riboproteogenomics of bacterial pathogens Ghent University
My recent findings revealed translation of numerous previously unidentified (small) open reading frames and expression of alternative N-terminal proteoforms when studying bacterial translation. This proposal aims at unraveling the repertoire of bacterial pathogen proteoforms employed to establish a successful infection in a mammalian host cell. While deep sequencing has enabled the study of gene expression at the transcript level in both ...
A CDS (Cellular-Distribution-System) empowering the cell biologist with cell-spatial statistical analysis for describing protein distributions. KU Leuven
Effect of metabolic gas transport on the central metabolism of pear fruit (Pyrus communis L.): a computational biologoy approach. KU Leuven
After harvest, apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) fruit remains metabolically active and continues to ripen. The main goal of postharvest storage is to slow down this metabolic activity and its associated fruit ripening. Therefore, large volumes of apple fruit are routinely stored under controlled atmosphere (CA) conditions (low temperature, low oxygen and high carbon dioxide partial pressures) with recent developments moving ...
Crossing the barrier: bringing the biologics revolution to the brain. KU Leuven
The blood brain barrier (BBB) and the blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB) preclude, under healthy conditions, the free exchange of biologicals between blood and brain. These barriers are of vital importance but severely hamper the delivery of drugs targeting central nervous system (CNS) related disorders or brain tumors. Promising strategies to cross the BBB/BCSFB, include drug delivery by means of targeting to the BBB/BCSFB ...
Rational design of biologics for therapeutic development (FoldCo) Ghent University
Thirty-six antibody-based biologics achieved blockbuster drug status (yearly sales exceeding a billion dollars) last year, and Humira alone generated $19.9 billion of global sales. Most biologics are monoclonal antibodies that, due to their extreme specificity, hold the promise to treat a variety of medical conditions for which no other treatments are currently available. Biologic drug development, however, still suffers from a high attrition ...