Projects
Unravelling the cellular response to photoporation Ghent University
Delivering compounds into cells is a ubiquitous requirement for fundamental life science research
and cell-based clinical applications. Since cells are protected from the outside world by their plasma
membrane, it requires sophisticated technology to deliver compounds across this barrier without
causing toxicity. Photoporation is emerging as a powerful technology to achieve exactly this. It relies
on laser illumination ...
Lab equipment necessary for the generation, manipulation and genome editing of pluripotent stem cells Ghent University
A specialized Laminar Air Flow with integrated microscope & a CO2 incubator are necessary for the generation, maintenance and manipulation of pluripotent stem cells. For genome editing and other manipulations of these stem cells, a nucleofector is the best instrument. Via nucleofection constructs are brought directly into the nucleus, which then can generate stable knockouts (or others).
Unearthing the origin of root stem cells in a relative of the first root bearing plants Ghent University
470 million years ago, the first land plants emerged from the water dwelling charophyte algae. The subsequent evolution of roots, including the establishment of a new stem cell niche, was one of the innovations that allowed plant life to thrive in this new terrestrial environment. The first root bearing plants belonged to lycophytes, the sister clade of euphyllophytes (ferns and seed plants). As such, lycophytes could be instrumental in ...
In-vitro differentiation of genetically modified murine spermatogonial stem cells Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Optimizing an experimental approach to silence disease-related genes by interfering with their chromatin structure. Epigenetic silencing of the human androgen receptor. KU Leuven
Characterization of protein translocation inhibitors of the ER Sec61 protein-conducting channel KU Leuven
ER protein co-translational translocation is a complex, multistep process that is essential for the metabolism and survival of cells. In fact, protein co-translational translocation is involved in many pathological conditions, such as cancer, where the growth of cancer cells is supported by upregulated protein translocation. Moreover, many viruses hijack the host cell translocation machinery for the synthesis of viral proteins and host-cell ...
Benchtop photoporator Ghent University
Introduction of exogenous material into the cytoplasm of living cells is an important aspect of different biomedical applications. Throughout the cell membrane, inducing toxicity without cell is the most important bottleneck. Meanwhile, various techniques have been developed where electroporation and lipofection are the best known for in vitro and ex vivo applications. Nevertheless, these technologies have important limitations in terms of ...
Understanding gamma-herpesvirus pathogenesis and development of novel treatment strategies. KU Leuven
At this moment, two human γ-herpesviruses have been identified i.e. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated virus (KSHV). EBV was discovered in 1964 in an endemic Burkitt's lymphoma tissue. The first report of a Kaposi sarcoma dates back from 1872, though only in 1994 KSHV was identified to be the etiological agent.
An EBV primary infection is mostly known to cause infectious mononucleosis when it occurs in adolescence ...
Photoporation as platform technology to study intercellular communication by Extracellular Vesicles and to facilitate their therapeutic use Ghent University
Since it became evident that Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) have the ability to functionally exchange
biomolecular signals between cells, interest in these nanosized vesicles has grown exponentially,
leading to the identification of a plethora of physiological processes in which EVs are involved.
Because of their natural function as carriers of macromolecular components, they also have
attracted the interest of drug ...