Projects
Characterization of natural posttranslational modifications of CCL2 and CCR2: role in activity regulation and quantification of proteoforms in inflammatory disorders KU Leuven
CCL2 is part of the chemokine family and is crucial for recruiting immune cells by binding to its receptor CCR2. Due to its central role in monocyte recruitment and activation during immune responses and the expression of CCR2 on endothelial cells, the CCL2/CCR2 axis has been implicated in inflammatory disorders and angiogenesis. Although CCL2 was found to be O-glycosylated more than three decades ago, limited information about the functional ...
Modulation of endothelial metabolic fluxes through posttranslational protein Modifications: from proteomics via metabolomics to vessel sprouting KU Leuven
Blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) is crucial in physiology, but also contributes to pathologies (eg cancer, ocular disease). Various vascular (growth) factors controlling angiogenesis have been identified, a prominent example being the key endothelial cell (EC) growth factor VEGF. However, the host lab recently identified an entirely novel regulation of angiogenesis, relying on metabolic rewiring of the ECs to ensure generation of energy ...
Neutrophil migration and activation in auto-inflammatory diseases: role of the chemokine network and of posttranslational modification of chemokines KU Leuven
Leukocyte migration is crucial during inflammation. It is regulated by a network of molecules including adhesion molecules, leukocyte attractants such as chemokines and their receptors. Although most leukocyte attractants have been identified, posttranslational modifications affecting their activity are still being discovered. These modifications may increase or decrease the activity of attractants and may even result in the generation of ...
Modelling protein network effects of mutations and post-translational modifications in yeast KU Leuven
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to better understanding of essential molecular mechanisms in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Two main research questions are addressed: i. how do post-translational modifications (PTMs) affect yeast protein-protein interactions, and ii. what are the mechanisms underlying yeast ethanol tolerance.
Post-translational modifications, such as the addition of chemical moieties on specific ...
Mapping the impact of post-translational modifications on protein aggregation. KU Leuven
A diverse group of principal widespread diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), type II diabetes mellitus and many others, shares a single common feature referring to the constant build-up of protein deposits, which causes various symptoms of growing severity (inflammation, tissue degeneration and full organ disfunction). Aberrant aggregation is promoted by short hydrophobic segments, located within ...
ProteinContour: proteome-scale unraveling of the relation between post-translational modifications, biophysical properties, interactions and sub-cellular location of proteins. Ghent University
Human cells have compartments, each with different functions. These different functions mainly arise because each compartment contains a different set of proteins. When some proteins end up in the wrong compartment of the cell, this can cause disease, as the cell cannot function properly any more. Proteins themselves are molecular machines composed of amino acids, connected to each other via the protein backbone, a single chemical structure. ...
Novel statistics tools for reliable proteome-wide quantification of post-translational modifications Ghent University
Proteins carry out the majority of functions in a living cell. Yet proteins are often subject to naturally occurring modifications of their basic structure, which happen after the protein has been synthetized in the cell. These modifications are termed post-translational modifications (PTMs) and can have substantial effects on protein function and activity. Therefore, these PTMs are highly relevant to our understanding of the cell in health ...
ProteinContour: proteome-scale unraveling of the relation between post-translational modifications, biophysical properties, interactions and sub-cellular location of proteins. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
These different functions mainly arise because each compartment contains a different set of proteins. When some proteins end up in the wrong compartment of the cell, this can cause disease, as the cell cannot function properly any more. Proteins themselves are molecular machines composed of amino acids, connected to each other via the protein backbone, a single chemical ...
FoldMod: The role of local amino acid interactions in protein folding, fold stability and the location of post-translational modifications Ghent University
Each protein has a unique sequence and hence a unique fold, movement and function. Many protein sequences are known but only for few experimental data on their fold, movement and modifications is available. FoldMod addresses this gap from a computational angle by looking at: where proteins start to fold, understanding how proteins keep their fold, identifying where proteins become modified.