Projects
FasOmics: an integrated multi-omics characterization of the fundamental biology of maternal and newborn health vulnerability in Burkina Faso Ghent University
Modern biological high-throughput technologies have generated a data deluge—from which low and middle-incomes countries (LMICs) have not yet fully benefited. These technologies generate methodologically and biologically distinct omics data types (e.g., genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and most recently exposomics)—each of which imparts different but complementary information. New insight from these omics data can deepen our understanding of ...
A novel platform for the identification of antibiotics using a combination of synthetic biology and high-throughput microfluidics KU Leuven
Antibiotics have revolutionized medical practice as they are essential to combat life-threatening infectious diseases. However, many bacterial pathogens have become resistant to first-line antibiotics and some are even multi-drug resistant. New antibiotics with novel modes of action or new chemical classes of molecules are therefore urgently needed. Most of the clinically used antibiotics are derived from natural products synthetized by ...
The interplay between microalgal biology and flocculation: the influence of cell surface properties and excreted organic matter on flocculation of microalgae. KU Leuven
Microalgae are considered as one of the most promising new sources of biomass for food, feed, biofuels and bulk chemicals. Despite of their potential, a major challenge is efficiently harvesting these unicellular organisms. Microalgae have a small size and a high colloidal stability. Flocculation is considered to be a low-cost and a low-energy technology for harvesting microalgae. But flocculation of living microalgae differs from ...
Development of highly multiplexed and ultra-sensitive spatial (multi-)omics assays to disclose and understand the biology of cellular heterogeneity in pre- and post-implantation embryogenesis at the single-cell level KU Leuven
Following fertilization, instigation of cellular heterogeneity amongst genetically identical cells is an important process of cell lineage specification and proper development of the embryo. However, these earliest phases of life remain poorly understood as methods for single-cell sequencing have low molecular sensitivity, suffer technical noise, and loose spatial cellular and molecular information obstructing fundamental insight in cell-cell ...
The conceptual integration of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) into neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory: the elaboration of a gene-selectionist (selfish gene) approach Ghent University
20th century neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory black-boxed the complex developmental processes leading from genotype to phenotype. Emerging in the 1980s, evo-devo, i.e. the evolutionary study of the developmental process itself, opened up the black box between genotype and phenotype. The major goal of 21st century evolutionary biology and bio-philosophy is the construction of an ‘Extended Evolutionary Synthesis’ (EES) incorporating evo-devo’s ...
Modulation of endothelial progenitor cell biology by hepatocyte-specific gene transfer of apolipoprotein A-I or the low density lipoprotein receptor. KU Leuven
Unfolding the role of Perk in T cell biology and metabolism: a matter of contact sites? KU Leuven
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) performs key cellular functions including protein and lipid synthesis/sorting, and calcium storage/signaling. To fulfil these functions the membranes of the ER physically connect with those of other organelles, like the mitochondria, through the agency of proteinaceous structures called membrane contact sites or MCSs. MCSs allow inter-organelle communication and are emerging as crucial signaling hubs for the ...
Integrative single-cell (epi)genomics and transcriptomics to understand the biology of cellular heterogeneity in melanoma over the course of treatment KU Leuven
Malignant melanoma is one of the most common and lethal cancers of young persons in the developed world. Melanoma tumors are comprised of a diverse set of cancer cells, and is characterized by resistance to both conventional and targeted therapy, most likely due to the heterogeneous nature of the melanoma tumor cell population. This intra-tumoral cellular heterogeneity arises through genome, epigenome and transcriptome alterations during ...
Molecular biology of the dimerization functions of the androgen receptor KU Leuven
The androgen receptor (AR: NR3C4) is a transcription factor which plays a central role in the development and maintenance of the male phenotype. This is illustrated by the many AR mutations that have been described in androgen insensitivity syndrome patients. While most of these mutations affect known AR functions like ligand, DNA or co-activator binding, some remained unexplained. We recently described a detailed map of the dimerization ...