The close interaction between organic chemi stry and biology goes back to the late 18th century, when the modern natural sciences began to take shape. After synthetic organic chemistry arose as a discipline, organic chemists almost immediately began to pursue the synthesis of naturally occurring compounds,…

LED3 is the combined effort of three excellent institutes of Leiden University. Through joined hands, we are able to give rise to a more effective early drug discovery pipeline. Let us briefly introduce the three institutes.

Research in the BioTherapeutics research programme is aimed at a smoother and speedier transition from preclinical research to pharmacological interventions, and the delivery of drugs in the human body by use of small molecules and biologics.

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.N. Kok

In photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT), a biologically active compound is caged by a light-cleavable protecting group.

Biological polymers, including proteins and the genome, undergo folding processes crucial for their proper functioning. Even slight changes in the folding structure of these biopolymers can have significant implications, leading to the development of various pathological conditions, such as neurodegenerative…

Projects within the theme ‘Computational Biology’ aim to employ mathematical or computational dynamical modelling approaches to discover novel concepts that are important for drug development.

The aim of this project is to explore the use of statistical interaction models to quantify cross-omics and omics-drug interactions in large-scale clinical and experimental datasets

The research in Biological- and Soft-Matter Physics specialisation consists of 120 European Credit Transfer System (EC) points and includes electives (60 EC) and two research projects (60 EC).

Climate change is a challenge for both current and future generations. New biological resources have to be developed in order to meet the demand for energy as well as the demand for food.

The surface and the edges of graphene are expected to provide higher sensitivity and specificity in detecting and characterizing single molecules. However fundamental physical limits exist in reaching an ultimate precision in detecting the dynamics of chemical and biological systems. The research in…

The Biomedical Microscale Analytics group is led by Dr. Rawi Ramautar. In present-day metabolomics, and bioanalysis in general, the analytical toolbox used encounters difficulties for the analysis of limited amounts of biological samples. As a result, a significant number of crucial biomedical/clinical…

Metabolomicshas emerged as an important discipline to study molecular and cellular processes in living cells and organisms with the ultimate aim to obtain an answer to a given biological/clinical question.

Can a proposed new radiofrequency approach to graphene biosensors lead to groundbreaking changes in genome mapping?

The chemical industry must continue to innovate for a more sustainable, healthier society. The reseachers from the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) contribute by applying their knowledge to themes such as sustainability, energy and health.

Are you interested in the neurocognitive and biological roots of learning, behaviour and emotions in children? If so, the programme in Applied Neuroscience in Human Development might be the specialisation you are looking for.

Key publications of the Biologics Formulation group

Advanced mass spectrometry of glycosphingolipids takes the central stage in this thesis. Investigations focus on characterization of glycosphingolipid metabolism in health and disease with emphasis to the detection and accurate quantitation of known and so far unknown glycosphingolipids and closely…

During adolescence, mood disorder onset peaks. Mood variability is associated with negative mental health outcomes, so understanding biological factors that might be associated with mood variability, such as sleep and structural brain development, could elucidate the mechanisms underlying mood and anxiety…

Does Artifical Light at Night (ALAN) disrupt seasonal physiological and behavioral patterns in migrating freshwater fish?

This work has described synthetic strategies towards well-defined structures resembling capsular polysaccharide (CPS) fragments, CPS mimics, teichoic acid (TA) fragments as well as a third-generation ring-closing tandem metathesis (RCM) linker to better exploit the potential of automated synthesis.

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

Towards a Biological Understanding of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition

Marine sponges are important members of reef ecosystems, as they play ecological roles that are essential for the health of the reef.

School of pharmaceutical sciences, University of Geneva - Switzerland

Can we establish a new quality control system for herbal medicines that is based on bioactivity rather than a few abundant chemicals?

Supervisor: Gerard van Westen

Glycoside hydrolases (glycosidases/GHs) are widely abundant enzymes in all kingdoms of life and are important biocatalysts that catalyze the hydrolysis of glycosidic linkages in oligo/polysaccharides, glycoproteins and glycolipids with tremendous efficiency

Glycosidases are essential in fundamental biological processes and are responsible for the degradation of most (oligo)saccharides, glycolipids and glycoproteins.

Where did species survive the cold cycles of the current Ice Age?

Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria - South Africa

Lipid signaling is an essential biological event/process in a plethora of pathophysiological conditions. The underlying idea of this thesis is that many of the roles and the complex interplay of the individual signaling lipids in inflammatory processes and related conditions in health and disease is…

The goal of target discovery is to identify and validate proteins and biological pathways that are involved in the disease process. Modulating these target proteins and pathways with small molecules, therapeutic proteins or other biomolecules (e.g. mRNA) could deliver an effective and safe drug or v…

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Hankemeier, Co-Promotor: R.J. Vreeken

This Thesis focuses on the design and synthesis of ADP-ribosylated compounds that can be applied in biological studies.

The recently introduced nature-originated deep eutectic solvents, so-called natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) are considered as truly green solvents, which composed of natural ingredients found abundantly in organisms.

The Biological- and Soft-Matter Physics specialisation is an excellent preparation for pursuing a PhD degree in physics.

Promotor: J.G.E.M. Fraaije, Co-Promotor: A. Kros

All life on earth contains DNA, which is used to store biological information. Organisms compact their DNA in order for it to fit inside their cell(s).

Biotherapeutics or biologics, such as proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids, comprise an increasing share of the pharmaceutical market, whilst offering new therapies for difficult-to-treat diseases. Most notable is their contribution to the vaccination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. In most cases,…

Carbohydrates, alongside proteins and nucleic acids, constitute a crucial and versatile family of biomolecules present in all life forms. They manifest as monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides, covalently bonded to proteins and fats. Carbohydrates are integral to plant and arthropod…

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Many biological processes occur by biomolecules coming together and organizing into specific clusters without being bound to each other. These interactions range from clustering, transiently interacting (kiss and run), or assembling to multimeric units that can only function in conjunction. The hydrogen…

Our research is aimed at a smoother and speedier transition from preclinical research to pharmacological interventions, and the delivery of drugs in the human body by use of small molecules and biologics.

Within the Chinese medicine, more than 80% of the constituents of the preparations are derived from plants. Like any other organism, plants are constantly interacting with their changing and often harsh environment during the various phases of their life cycle.

In this thesis an activity-based probe was discovered that could visualize the activity of PLAATs. With an optimized gel-based ABPP assay in hand, screening of a compound library led to the discovery of alpha-ketoamides as a hit for PLAAT3.

Ceramides (CERs), cholesterol, and free fatty acids (FFAs) are the main lipid classes in human stratum corneum (SC, outermost skin layer), but no studies report on the detailed analysis of these classes in a single platform.

With the powerful electron microscopes at NeCEN we study abnormalities in cells of blood vessels in cardiovascular disease, the interaction between pathogens and hosts in infectious diseases, molecular processes that cause cancer and the interaction between drugs and target proteins. Drug development…