Projects
The serine synthesis pathway: an unexplored metabolic pathway in endothelial cells, regulating angiogenesis? KU Leuven
The control of metabolism is a fundamental requirement for all life, with perturbations of metabolic homeostasis underlying numerous pathologies. Even though cellular metabolism has been studied for over a century, endothelial cell (EC) metabolism has been receiving growing attention only during the last few years.
The endothelium, a monolayer of endothelial cells lining the blood vessel lumen, is in direct contact with the ...
Pathways of transferred juvenile delinquents: A qualitative study about the consequences of transfer on criminal justice pathways into (young) adulthood. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Identification of flow-inducible BMP signalling pathways and characterization of their role during embryonic vascular remodelling KU Leuven
The circulatory system is the first organ system to become functional during embryonic development and is required for survival of the embryo. As such, the vasculature must grow with the embryo, be efficient, and perfuse all tissues and organs. In the mouse embryonic yolk sac, the initial vasculature consists of a randomly organized, honeycomb-like network of capillaries. As the heart begins to beat and red blood cells enter circulation, this ...
Optimization of Synthetic Pathways Using Metabolons for Enhanced Production of Biochemicals Ghent University
One of the main goals of the relatively new field of synthetic biology is to develop new, artificial biochemical routes starting from standardized parts or building blocks, such as
promoters, genes, etc. that allow the modulation of de novo designed biochemical routes. These new routes (or pathways) can lead to the production of biochemicals that are used in pharma and food applications, and that are cumbersome to make via classical ...
Parallel processing of multisensory information in conscious and unconscious visual pathways. KU Leuven
We perceive the world through multiple senses that need to be integrated by the brain to produce appropriate behavior. This multisensory integration is usually ascribed to very integrative cortical areas, but recent studies suggest this could happen earlier in sensory circuits. My project aims at exploring multisensory integration at very early stages of two parallel visual pathways: the unconscious pathway, through the superior colliculus, ...
Molecular genomics of TDP-43 positive frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-TDP): elucidation of disease pathways through an integrated approach. University of Antwerp
A novel approach to probe crosstalk between plant stress response pathways under field conditions Ghent University
In the face of world population growth and climatic change, global food security will increasingly depend on our ability to design crops with higher yield and higher tolerance to stress. Unraveling the wiring of plant stress response pathways traditionally involves controlled experimental perturbations that are often rather harsh and unrealistic from a field perspective. Moreover, only a single pathway is usually perturbed, impeding the ...
Study of the functional interactions between hormonal signaling pathways and microRNAs in the post-embryonic development of insects KU Leuven
This thesis focusses on the study of the physiological role and mode-of-action of hormonal and small RNA pathways in the control of post-embryonic development and reproduction in locusts, which are globally considered as the most devastating migratory pest insects.
Juvenile hormones (JH) are key endocrine regulators produced by the corpora allata (CA) of insects. Together with ecdysteroids, as well as nutritional cues, JH ...
Genetic adaptation of bacterial catabolic pathways for pesticide biodegradation: role of historical contingency. KU Leuven
The use of pesticides contaminates surface and groundwater. Biodegradation is crucial for the fate of pesticides in the environment both in natural attenuation processes in the field and in dedicated bioremediation technologies for mitigating contamination. New pesticides have to comply to stringent requirements regarding biodegradability. Genetic adaptation appears important in the acquisition of novel catabolic pathways for bacterial ...