Organisations
Beta Cell Neogenesis Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Diabetes mellitus is a pandemic metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. The pathogenic process is the result of insulin insufficiency. Insulin is a peptide hormone produced in the beta cells of the pancreatic islets. Current diabetes treatments strive for glycemic control but fail to solve the underlying beta cell defect. This approach has increased the life expectancy and quality of most patients with diabetes but has ...
Cell Biology and Histology Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The Department of Cell Biology (CYTO-VUB) is specialized in molecular and cellular liver research, with a main focus on the (patho)biology of hepatic stellate cells and liver progenitor cells. Prof. A. Geerts contributed to the first paper on isolation, purification and culturing of hepatic stellate cells (1) and is the author of a side scatter activated cell sorting method to purify freshly isolated hepatic stellate cell up to 95 - 100% (2). ...
Cell death signaling (CDS) University of Antwerp
Cell Differentiation Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Our team wants to find ways to generate new insulin-producing, glucose-regulated "beta" cells that can be used for transplantation in diabetes patients and ways to regenerate beta cells in the pancreas. We study rodent experimental models as well as human cells. The first aim is based on tissue engineering starting from: 1. Exocrine pancreatic cells: reprogramming of adult exocrine cells to endocrine cells, or transdifferentiation in culture. ...
Cell Genetics Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The laboratory for Cell Genetics (Cytogenetics) studies variation in genotype and phenotype, cell division pathways, cell death and genetic changes relevant for the increase of cancer in human. Genotoxicity tests assess the induction of DNA damage, gene mutations, structural and numerical chromosome aberrations. Their predictivity for cancer induction is supported by international studies relating mutations and activation of cancer related ...
Cell Metabolism KU Leuven
The primary objectives of the lab are 1) to understand the role of peroxisomes and in particular of peroxisomal β-oxidation in diverse tissues and during different stages of life 2) to investigate the pathological mechanisms in peroxisomal diseases which should allow the development of therapies. To approach these questions we generated a series of mouse models with global or cell type selective inactivation of functional peroxisomes or of ...
Laboratory for Mechanisms of Cell Transformation (VIB-KUÂ Leuven) KU Leuven
The research interests from the Laboratory for Mechanisms of Cell Transformation are focused on understanding the cooperative interactions that conspire to promote tumorigenic transformation. To discover drivers of cancer development and progression, they create experimental models of cell transformation derived from primary human cells that mimic alterations found in human cancer samples. These models provide a useful platform to delineate ...
Laboratory for Signal Integration in Cell Fate Decision KU Leuven
Our scientific interests are to reveal how membrane-associated scaffold proteins and lipids participate in cell signaling and multicellular organization/homeostasis. We provided major contributions to our understanding of the importance of membrane trafficking for the biology of heparan sulfate proteoglycans, the role of phospholipids in the function of PDZ proteins and more recently the molecular mechanisms of exosome biogenesis. Our current ...
Laboratory of Cell Death Research & Therapy (VIB-KUÂ Leuven) KU Leuven
The Laboratory of Cell Death Research & Therapy researches Defective regulation of cell death, especially in the form of apoptosis, contributes to the development of crucial pathologies including cancer and plays a major role in chemoresistance. Mechanisms regulating cancer cell death also affect the emission of ‘danger signals’ from the stressed/dying cells, which critically define their ‘immunogenic character’ and impact the initiation ...