Metastasis is responsible for over 90% of cancer-related deaths and arises from the ability of a small subset of tumor cells to detach from the primary tumor, overcome multiple biochemical and mechanical barriers, disseminate through the body, and colonize distant organs.

Cristina del Real, universitair docent Cyber Crisis bij het Institute Security and Global Affairs, nam deel aan de presentatie van het Office of Science and Technology (OficinaC) voor het Spaanse Congres van Afgevaardigden (het Spaanse parlement). Ze is een expert in cyber security, een van de vier…

The research described in this thesis focused on identifying novel drug targets and synergistic combinations for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a virulent subtype of breast cancer with a dismal prognosis and limited therapeutic options.

Solute carrier (SLC) transporters are a large and diverse class of relatively understudied transmembrane proteins.

Shape and biological function are tightly connected. Physical descriptions are used to connect the shape of a biological system with its function.

Drug development critically depends on preclinical models that mimic human physiology, yet traditional two-dimensional cultures and animal models often lack predictive power.

Promotor: B. van de Water

This thesis investigates how cell shape and collective behavior influence the dynamics and structure of biological tissues, which are crucial for understanding processes like embryonic development, tissue regeneration, and metastasis.

Mechanical forces are known to play an important role in bacterial colonies. In this dissertation, we study the self-organization at various stages of growing bacterial colonies, and focus on the mechanical effects of cell growth.

Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death worldwide, and better models are urgently needed for disease progression studies and drug development.

Promotor: B. van de Water

In 2020 zijn de stimuleringsprogramma's van de Universiteit Leiden gestart, met als één van de programma's regeneratieve geneeskunde.

Image-Pro Plus, ImageJ, Cell Profiler, R, Knime en NIS-elements

This thesis seeks to investigate how cancer-associated mutations affect the pharmacological properties of selected GPCRs—primarily A2AAR and 5-HT2CR—through a combination of ligand binding assays, signaling readouts, kinetic profiling, and cellular functional assays.

Promotor: Huub J.M. de Groot, Co-promotor: Francesco Buda

Integrins play an essential role in multicellular life by connecting cells to the extracellular matrix.

Image segmentation is a fundamental task in computer vision, with applications ranging from medical diagnostics to archaeological research.

The first steps are made in personalised cancer vaccination strategies, which aim to induce a more specific immune response with fewer side effects. The activation of cytotoxic T cells is crucial for an effective immune response.

Promotors: W. Jiskoot; G.J. Witkamp, Co-promotor: M.R. Nejadnik

Endothelial dysfunction and microvascular diseases are key drivers of cardiovascular disease, the world's leading cause of death.

The overarching goal of this thesis is to set the foundations, but also make the first essential steps towards establishing a comprehensive, mesoscopic, hydrodynamic theory of epithelial tissues. The stage is set by an exhaustive study of topological defects in passive p-atic liquid crystals, singularities…

Hoe bied je met simpele middelen tóch hoogwaardig en interessant onderwijs? Hierover sprak Universe Awareness van de Universiteit Leiden tijdens het wetenschapsfestival in Botswana. Met onder andere een laserexperiment van huishoudelijke materialen toonden zij de mogelijkheden om jongeren te interesseren…

In previous studies at our laboratory it was demonstrated that drug exposure of HepG2 cells can lead to an altered TNFα-induced NF-κB oscillatory phenotype, concurrent with a synergistically increased sensitivity for TNFα-induced apoptosis.

In this thesis, we focus on novel proteins/mechanisms that regulate integrin-adhesion mediated mechano-transduction.

This doctoral thesis is an effort to understand how lipid phase-separation induced by diacylglycerol analogues in lipid-based nanoparticles affects their in vivo behavior, leading to specific nanoparticle-protein communications and selective cell targeting.

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

Pericytes, the mural cells of blood microvessels, are important regulators of vascular morphogenesis and function that have been postulated to mechanically control microvascular diameter through as yet unknown mechanisms.

This thesis focuses on the synthesis, characterization and performance towards CO2 electroreduction of mono and bi-metallic particles based on p-block metals

Promotores: H.S. Overkleeft, G.A. van der Marel, Co-Promotor: R.G. Boot

Een overzicht van awards en prijzen die in 2020 zijn toegekend aan onze medewerkers en studenten, maar ook bijzondere benoemingen aan de Universiteit Leiden en andere instellingen.

This thesis describes the synthesis, analysis of various tetrazine bearing compounds and use in bioorthogonal chemistry.

In human cells, a meter-long DNA is condensed inside a micrometer-sized cell nucleus. Simultaneously, the genetic code must remain accessible for its replication and transcription to functional proteins.

Kinase inhibitors are key therapeutic agents, particularly in oncology, yet their clinical efficacy is often hampered by off-target effects and limited understanding of their cellular target profiles.

Promotor: Roeland M.H. Merks

Drug induced organ toxicity is the main problem of the drug development and drug usage in the clinic. The liver and kidneys are the most sensitive organs towards drug induced toxicity.

The function of TLRs in innate immunity has aroused worldwide attention soon after its discovery. Because of the broad functions of TLR2 in innate immunity, the drive for the development of TLR2-targeted vaccines or therapeutic treatments has accelerated in the last decades.

The research described in this thesis focused on the use of bioorthogonal antigens to investigate immunological processes in antigen presenting cells. Bioorthogonal antigens are antigenic proteins produced through recombinant expression in a methionine auxotrophic E. coli strain.

Promotores: Prof.dr. H. van Veen & Prof.dr. W. de Boer (Wageningen University)

The applications of studying the early development of insects range from agriculture to material science.

Synthesis and application of chemical biology tools to study immunomodulatory signaling lipids.

The investigations described in this thesis lay out strategies aimed at advancing antibiotic research and development. The examples presented revolve around two main approaches: understanding drug-target interactions and target identification.

Promotores: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg & Dr. M.G. Vijver

This thesis describes the functional analysis of the Arabidopsis AHL15 gene.

Lysosomal acid glucosylceramidase (GBA1) is a lysosomal enzyme that degrades glucolipids with its main substrate being glucosylceramide (GlcCer). Defects in the GBA1 gene lead to glycosphingolipidosis Gaucher disease (GD), in which the hydrolysis of GlcCer is impaired and therefore, it accumulates in…

Promotor: Johan Kuiper, Co-promotor: Saskia C.A. de Jager