The CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, is widely involved in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, no drugs for this receptor have made it to the pharmaceutical market yet.

In this thesis, we aimed to better understand the underlying mechanisms involved in TNBC progression and metastasis formation and discover new targets to reduce breast cancer related deaths.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.K. Richardson

In the current global context, there is a pressing need to address sustainable energy supplies to safeguard our Planet and its ecosystems. The choices made by human society have a significant impact on genetic evolution and climate.

Cardiovascular diseases are among the most frequent causes of death in the world. The main underlying pathology of cardiovascular diseases is the development of atherosclerosis in the medium and large-sized arteries.

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

The main aim of this thesis was to unravel the signaling and regulatory networks that drive tumor cell migration during breast cancer metastasis.

Promotor: Christoph U. Keller, Co-promotores: Matthew A. Kenworthy, Frans Snik

With the dramatic growth of the image data on the web, there is an increasing demand of the algorithms capable of understanding the visual information automatically.

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

This dissertation presents new cryptographic protocols, which can be divided into two families.

The way organisms develop from the initial single-cellular state to a complex final assembly like the human body, and how the final body is maintained throughout life, is one of the greatest mysteries and it’s understanding one of the biggest scientific challenges.

Promotor: K.J. Batenburg, Co-promotor: A.W. van der Vaart, B. de Smit

This monograph focuses on clustering of objects in high-dimensional data, given the restriction that the objects do not cluster on all the attributes, not even on a single subset of attributes, but often on different subsets of attributes in the data.

This thesis involves three topics: benchmarking discrete optimization algorithms, empirical analyses of evolutionary computation, and automatic algorithm configuration.

Assessing the risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) solely on the basis of experimental assays is time-consuming, resource intensive, and constrained by ethical considerations (such as the principles of the 3Rs of animal testing). The adoption of computational toxicology in this field is a high p…

Electron microscopy has become an extremely important techniquein a wide variety of elds.

Science is typically a patchwork of research contributions without much coordination. Especially in clinical trials, the follow-up studies that we do fail to be the most promising.

This thesis focuses on the X-ray spectral analysis of merging galaxy clusters and the plasma code development for future high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy observations.

The deeper understanding of an organism's pathology is important for developing treatments. Over centuries of systematic research, clinical researchers have demonstrated that the more information they acquire about the cellular properties and their organisation in the tissue, the better they can understand…

Promotie

Promotie

Promotie

Promotores: Prof.dr. T.H.W. Bäck, Prof.dr. M. Bongards (Cologne University)

A single self-assembled semiconductor quantum dot in a high-finesse optical microcavity - the subject of this thesis - is an interesting quantum-mechanical system for future quantum applications. For instance, this system allows trapping of an extra electron and thus can serve as a spin quantum memory,…

In this work, we investigate the minute circular dichroism effects of single nanoparticles.To this aim, we apply photothermal imaging with a polarization-modulated heating beam.

Synthetic hydrogels that mimic the natural extracellular matrix in the biophysical and biochemical cues it provides to cells are in high demand, however the cell phenotypes as they are observed in vivo in numerous cases have yet to be attained.

On a structural level, the properties featured by a majority of mechanical metamaterials can be ascribed to the finite number of soft internal degrees-of freedom allowing for low-energy deformations.

The majority (80%) of e-waste generated globally are recycled informally in developing countries.

In this thesis integral points on affine del Pezzo surfaces are studied.

Nanoparticles can be used as delivery systems for both small molecules and macromolecules such as proteins, peptides or oligonucleotides. This thesis focuses on the use of liposomes, nanometric vesicles formed by a lipid bilayer enclosing an aqueous core. Liposomes are highly versatile delivery syst…

Promotores: W. Jiskoot, F. Ossendorp

Soil is a home for an unbelievable diversity and abundance of microbial life that is essential for supporting life on our planet.

Naast het feit dat angstproblemen veelvoorkomend zijn en het daarom belangrijk is om hier effectieve preventieve programma’s en behandelingen voor te ontwikkelen, is dat in deze tijd extra relevant.

A difficulty of studies on chemical kinetics are the reaction time scales and detection of their intermediates.

The ultimate goal of cosmologists is to find a cosmological model able to explain the current observational data.

Promotor: M.A.G.J. Orrit

In order to gain a better insight into the basis of the rapid jasmonic acid (JA)-mediated stress response, an integrated approach using a targeted high-resolution mass spectrometry-based (HRMS) platform, was conducted to monitor the metabolism of JA using the model system of cell suspension cultures…

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.

Promotores: Prof.dr. T.H.W. Bäck, Prof.dr. M.R.V. Chaudron, Co-Promotor: M.T.M. Emmerich

In this thesis, a system pharmacology approach, integrating metabolomics, pharmacology and chemical biology, was applied to understand and modulate the endocannabinoid system across different model systems (cells, zebrafish, mice and humans).

The soil ecosystem consists of the largest reservoir of biodiversity on Earth.

Promotor: Prof.dr. A.P. IJzerman, Co-Promotor: L.H. Heitman

The mission of our group is understanding how science communication works to improve the interaction between science and society. We believe better science communication can improve our society and engage many different groups with science, also improving science.

OB associations are loose groups of young, massive stars. They constitute the last stage of the massive starformation process, and the context in which new stars are formed.

Promotores: Prof.dr. G.A. Persoon & Prof. dr. H.H. de Iongh

In the search for sustainable energy solutions, the idea of artificial photosynthesis has been proposed as an approach with which to use water and sunlight to produce hydrogen.

The complexity of an intelligence problem determines to a great extent the certainty that can be provided by intelligence and security services.

The solar system was formed approximately 4.56 billion years ago. Despite the numerous theories that have been developed over the years, the formation and evolution of the solar system still remain unclear.

Over several decades, a variety of computational methods for drug discovery have been proposed and applied in practice. With the accumulation of data and the development of machine learning methods, computational drug design methods have gradually shifted to a new paradigm, i.e. deep learning methods…