Stem Cell and Developmental Biology KU Leuven
research
1. Pluripotent Stem Cells and Reprogramming
2. Pluripotent Stem Cell Differentiation
3. Adult Stem Cells
4. Disease Modelling and Regenerative Therapies
research
1. Pluripotent Stem Cells and Reprogramming
2. Pluripotent Stem Cell Differentiation
3. Adult Stem Cells
4. Disease Modelling and Regenerative Therapies
We want to force a breakthrough in the cure of neuronal and neurodegenerative disorders. This requires a deep understanding of normal brain function and translation of this knowledge into a solid mechanistic understanding of disease mechanisms.
Our team wants to find ways to generate new insulin-producing, glucose-regulated "beta" cells that can be used for transplantation in diabetes patients and ways to regenerate beta cells in the pancreas. We study rodent experimental models as well as human cells. The first aim is based on tissue engineering starting from: 1. Exocrine pancreatic cells: reprogramming of adult exocrine cells to endocrine cells, or transdifferentiation in culture. ...
The laboratory for Cell Genetics (Cytogenetics) studies variation in genotype and phenotype, cell division pathways, cell death and genetic changes relevant for the increase of cancer in human. Genotoxicity tests assess the induction of DNA damage, gene mutations, structural and numerical chromosome aberrations. Their predictivity for cancer induction is supported by international studies relating mutations and activation of cancer related ...
The Department of Cell Biology (CYTO-VUB) is specialized in molecular and cellular liver research, with a main focus on the (patho)biology of hepatic stellate cells and liver progenitor cells. Prof. A. Geerts contributed to the first paper on isolation, purification and culturing of hepatic stellate cells (1) and is the author of a side scatter activated cell sorting method to purify freshly isolated hepatic stellate cell up to 95 - 100% (2). ...
Diabetes mellitus is a pandemic metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. The pathogenic process is the result of insulin insufficiency. Insulin is a peptide hormone produced in the beta cells of the pancreatic islets. Current diabetes treatments strive for glycemic control but fail to solve the underlying beta cell defect. This approach has increased the life expectancy and quality of most patients with diabetes but has ...
The academic staff of the Liver Cell Biology Lab (LIVR) is formed by Prof. Leo van Grunsven (Head of LIVR) and Prof. Hendrik Reynaert (Head of Gastroenterology Department at the UZ Brussel hospital).
In general, research projects at LIVR aim to better characterize the different liver cell types in healthy and pathological conditions, and to gain a better insight in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis and the mechanisms of liver ...
Using a large panel of classical morphological techniques incl. enzyme- andimmunohistochemistry, as well as more advanced molecular techniques on tissue sections, we investigate the histology & the function of a variety of human tissues in normal & in pathological conditions.Throughout these research activities we attempt to optimise the available morphological techniques for light microscopy, electron microscopy, incl. transmission ...