Projects
Leveraging droplet microfluidics and nucleic acid engineering for development of a CRISPR-based cell imaging toolbox KU Leuven
Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is the golden standard for DNA imaging in cells, but it involves lengthy experimental workflows and genomic DNA denaturation. CRISPR-Cas9 (stands for: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and associated protein 9) technology, alternatively, has enabled specific cell imaging without the need for DNA denaturation. Still, all so far reported CRISPR-Cas9-based approaches require ...
Engineering of the CAR-T cell glycocalyx to enhance anti-tumor efficacy. Ghent University
Glycosylation is the modification of macromolecules with carbohydrate structures These carbohydrate structures together make up a layer at the outside of all of our cells, which we call the glycocalyx Recently, technology has become available to very specifically introduce genetic modifications in mammalian cells In this project, we want to further develop this technology to introduce specific changes in the glycocalyx of cytotoxic T-cells ...
Reverse engineering cellular identity at single cell resolution KU Leuven
Cellular identity is maintained by Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs), which in turn underlie cell morphology and function. GRNs are defined by a particular combination of Transcription Factors (TFs), which orchestrate the specific spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression that drive cellular fate by recognising and binding to cis-regulatory regions. These genomic enhancers are characterised by the presence of recognition sequences to which TFs ...
CiTrY: Study and engineering of C1 TRansport over Yeast membranes: towards carbon-neutral microbial cell factories Ghent University
Microbial cell factories like specialized bacteria, yeast and fungi, are used to produce relevant compounds and engineered biomolecules such as commodities, fine chemicals, food ingredients and biopharmaceuticals. Tailor-made robust microorganisms displaying novel biological behaviors produce these products in a non-chemical way utilizing nature’s toolset, in general using renewable inputs such as glucose or industrial side streams. C1 ...
Patient-derived cell models and genome engineering for precision therapy of cystic fibrosis KU Leuven
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-shortening monogenic disorder causing multi-organ disease. CF is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene, which encodes a Cl-/HCO3- channel expressed in the apical membrane of epithelial cells. Current small molecule treatment is available to ~60% of CF patients and with new modulators in the pipeline, potentially 90% of CF patients can be treated. The last 10%, i.e. the minimal function mutations, ...
Engineering Aquaporins for Microbial Cell Factories Ghent University
Despite their essential role in microbial metabolism, transport processes across cellular membranes are a relatively neglected area of research in biotechnology. This often results in inefficient bioconversions, product accumulation and potential cytotoxicity, as the cell membrane is mostly impermeable to chemical compounds without specialized transport proteins. Aquaglyceroporins (AQGPs) are channels that transport small, non-charged, polar ...
Biodegradable fluidics microsystems for cell cultures and tissue engineering Ghent University
At the end of the project it is the intention to obtain structures, equal or similar to the one of which a cross
section is shown in the adjoining drawing. One type of cells, namely the hepatocytes or liver cells are being
cultured in straight, parallel running microfluidic channels in a central layer. Height and width of the channels
is to be optimised, but is estimated to be around 50μm. Below and on top of the hepatocyte ...
Synthetic biology engineering of the halophilic archaeon Haloferax mediterranei as a cell factory for tailor-made polyhydroxyalkanoates. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
of petroleum-based plastics, focus is shifting towards more
sustainable alternatives, such as microbial production of
biodegradable plastics with as a promising example
polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). Despite this promise,
commercialization of PHA production is still limited due to low yields
and high production costs. The observation of ...
A pre-targeted nanomedicine strategy for in vivo CD8+ T cell engineering. Ghent University
The goal of this project is to investigate a strategy to pre-target CD8+ T cells in vivo with a chemical moiety that allows for subsequent cellspecific delivery of nanoparticle-formulated therapeutics, functionalized with a complimentary reactive moiety on their surface using ultrafast covalent click chemistry. Via this technology, we aim to modulate T cells in vivo in the blood and in the tumor microenvironment.