Hydrogen fuel cells are expected to be pivotal in the energetic transition towards renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. However, their industrial scalability is severely hindered by the high cost and degradation rate of platinum catalysts, one of their key components. Addressing this…

The skin is our natural barrier and lipids are a key part of this barrier. In the outer skin layer, the stratum corneum (SC), lipids form a densely organized structure dependent on the composition of these lipids.

How are the epidermal lipid pathways involved in health and disease.

Source: J Med Chem (2015)

Promotor: Prof.dr. B. van de Water, Co-promotor: L.S. Price

Membrane fusion is a vital process in living organisms and is mediated by zipper-like proteins.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel

The indane (2,3-dihydro-1H-indene) ring system is an attractive scaffold for biologically active compounds due to the combination of aromatic and aliphatic properties fused together in one rigid system.

This thesis describes the use of bioorthogonal proteins in immunological settings. It provides an introduction towards the field of protein modification, which was used throughout the thesis for the expression of proteins containing unnatural amino acids.

Source: Org Biomol Chem, Volume 13, Issue 8, pp. 2407-22 (2015)

ChEMBL is a large-scale drug discovery database containing bioactivity information primarily extracted from scientific literature.

The thesis describes the use of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, in continuous wave and pulse modes, to address the interaction of α-Synuclein (αS) with membranes and the aggregation of αS.

Source: Structure , Volume 22, Issue 8, pp. 1120-1139 (2014)

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common type of breast cancer.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

If you wish to know exactly what is going on in a healthy or sick human body, and at various levels such as molecule, cell, tissue, organ, larger systems and a person as a whole? Do you wish to learn how to do research which contributes to diagnoses, treatment and prevention of diseases? Then the bachelor…

This thesis explores different avenues to develop insurmountable antagonists for CC Chemokine Receptors, such as CCR1, CCR2 and CCR5.

Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar periwinkle) produces valuable monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) such as vincristine and vinblastine, crucial for cancer treatment.

This article researches the public perception of terrorist attacks by measuring the importance the public assigns to attributes of terrorist attacks.

The research described in this thesis shows that hypercholesterolemia, a well-established risk factor for atherosclerosis, can impact skin lipid pool and barrier function already at young age. In the field of atherosclerosis, we showed that the small peptide Lyp-1 can be used as a targeting molecule…

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Hankemeier, Prof.dr. J.C.T. Eijkel (Twente University)

Polymyxins are clinically used antibiotics, discovered in mid-20th century. Once abandoned due to excessive nephrotoxicity, they are now used increasingly to address infections caused by multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria.In this thesis, we describe the development and synthesis of analogues…

Promotores: H.S. Overkleeft, G.A. van der Marel, Co-promotor: B.I. Florea

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Hankemeier, Co-promotor: Dr. Theo Reijmers

Key publications of the Skin Barrier and Vaccination group.

Promotor: Prof.dr. R. Verpoorte, , Co-Promotor: Young Hae Choi

Streptomyces are filamentous bacteria that produce more than two-thirds of known antibiotics.

This thesis focuses on important life history traits and their trade-offs using two hexapod models. Particularly, the trade-off between immune defense and embryonic developmental speed is a central theme of this study.

Salicylic acid (SA) is a plant hormone, which is involved in the defense responses to pathogens and to abiotic stress, and in the regulation of plant growth and development.

In this thesis, bioorthogonal chemistry is combined with correlative light-electron microscopy to selectively label and study pathogenic intracellular bacteria within the host immune cell.

Metabolomics group, LCQUI, Universidade UENF, Campos dos Goytacazes/Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Leiden University is an international, broad-based university. We distinguish five core domains for our research and teaching activities.

Supervisor: Gerard van Westen

Plant exudates appeared long time ago in the history line of life in the early Devonian. They are typical saps produced by specialized cells.

Source: Eur J Med Chem, Volume 101, pp. 681-91 (2015)

My PhD project studies how the temporally sequential Hox gene expression is regulated during head-tail patterning of the frog embryo.

The main subject of this thesis is the design and synthesis of paramagnetic molecules for protein studies with NMR and EPR spectroscopy.

The objective of this study was to investigate the expression and function of GRHL2 in different breast cancer subtypes.

Chemical-induced organ toxicity is a major concern in the development and use of chemicals, including drugs, pesticides, industrial chemicals and cosmetics. In the last decades, the onset and progression of chemical-induced organ toxicity has been linked amongst others to perturbation of mitochondri…

Promotores: H. Schiessel, G.T. Barkema

The zebrafish is a promising vertebrate model organism in early drug discovery and development.

One of the main challenges in the development of an effective anti-cancer vaccine is the generation of an adequate and directed cellular immune response.

Inactivating mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes predispose to several types of cancer.

Immunotherapies for cancer are an emerging class of therapeutic strategies which aim to treat cancer via augmentation of the immune system.

The stratum corneum is the outermost skin layer and consists of dead cells embedded in a lipid matrix.

This paper describes two synthetic lipid models designed to replace human stratum corneum (SC) in studies of the impact of volatile organic chemicals on the molecular organization of the skin barrier lipids.

The mission of the Plant Science research programme is to contribute to the sustainable production of high quality crops, flowers and high-value bio-based products. This is realised by generating fundamental knowledge of basic biological processes related to development of plants and their interaction…

The lipid membrane is a basic structural component of all living cells. Embedded in this nanometer-thin barrier, membrane proteins shape the membrane and at the same time respond to the shape of the membrane.

There is considerable need for improved skin models to develop safe and efficient drugs for skin delivery as well as for cosmetic and chemical product testing on the skin.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to develop a cheap and fast method to produce hollow microneedles and an applicator for injecting vaccines into the skin at a pre-defined depth and test the applicability of the system for dermal polio vaccination.