This thesis describes the design and development of subunit‐selective inhibitors of particular catalytically active subunits of human constitutive proteasomes and immunoproteasomes.

This thesis focuses on developing new chemical synthesis strategies to produce native ADP‑ribosylated biomolecules with precise structural control.

This thesis investigates innovative and classical strategies in glycoconjugate vaccine development to address the growing threat of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

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

This thesis aims to investigate the effect of tripartite interaction between microbial inoculants, the plant, and herbivore insects on the rhizosphere microbiome and volatilome. We investigated the rhizosphere microbiome and volatilome of tomato plants exposed to insect herbivory and/or inoculated with…

The Role and Effectiveness of the G20. In this article, published in The Changing Global Order part of the United Nations University Series on Regionalism book series, author Jaroslaw Kantorowicz discusses the evolution of the G20.

Did he dare take a gamble with his PhD research? Jeroen Methorst didn’t have to think long about it. It could fail or turn out very well. The latter is the case. Methorst developed a computer system that helps researchers find the protein they need. ‘Our whole group is now using this program.’ Methorst…

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of the Faculty of Science with the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

The Data-Driven Drug Discovery Network (D4N) is an initiative by researchers from Leiden University and collaborators to join efforts in applying and developing novel techniques from data science to drug discovery and related topics from bioinformatics.

The National Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Facilities programme of NWO enables the building or renovation of research facilities with international allure. Leiden NMR groups take part in the uNMR-NL consortium coordinated by Marc Baldus (Utrecht University) that has been awarded almost 18 million…

Source: International Journal of Cosmetic Science, Volume 37, Number 1, pp. 148-148 (2015) ISBN: 0142-5463

Conference

Twenty years from now, the world population is estimated to be around 9 billion people (now 8 billion). In combination with the improvements in living standards and the corresponding growth in consumption, this population will result in an enormous increase in the demand for food, consumables, water…

How do pathogenic mycobacteria alter lipid metabolism in human cells and patients, and which disrupted pathways could be targeted for new antibiotics?

Jacques Waisvisz (98) is one of our oldest living alumni. As a Jewish student in the Second World War, he was forbidden from completing his studies. How does he look back at that time, and what was life like afterwards? ‘No one thought that the situation here would become so bad.’

Lysosomal glycosidases are acid hydrolases that fragment glycoconjugates in lysosomes.

In the emerging field of small-molecule RNA targeting, there is a growing demand for new high-throughput screening methods.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel

Are you the scientist of the future? Come experiment with science at the Experiments Square! Make your own slime, discover how rubber can count, play along with the antibiotics game, discover the power of light and much more!

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme?

Plants use sunlight to perform photosynthesis, but with too much light they have to dim their activity and protect their cells against photo damage. The protein PsbS acts as a light-stress sensor and plays a key role in this process. Article in Nature’s Scientific Reports.

BACKGROUND: Explant human skin equivalents (Ex-HSEs) can be generated by placing a 4mm skin biopsy onto a dermal equivalent. The keratinocytes migrate from the biopsy onto the dermal equivalent, differentiate and form the epidermis of 1(st) generation Ex-HSEs. This is especially suitable for the expansion…

Implementing all kinds of change and introducing new structures, far-reaching rules and administrative systems may sometimes seem to distract an organisation from its purpose. Furthermore, there is growing recognition of the need of staff of public organisations to find more meaning in their work: the…

In 2024, many of our students and staff won great prizes and secured important research grants.

Many researchers of the Faculty of Science are members of a research school related to their area of expertise. Research schools aim at collaboration of researchers from different faculties in the same university (interfaculty schools) or in different universities (interuniversity schools).

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).

Cancer is considered the silent pandemic of the 21st century and the second leading cause of death worldwide.

The mechanism of the electrochemical reduction of dioxygen by a mononuclear pyridylalkylamine copper complex was investigated (see picture). It was shown that in neutral aqueous solution dioxygen undergoes stepwise reduction, wherein hydrogen peroxide plays a key role. The rate constants determined…

Phospholipase A/acyltransferase 3 (PLAAT3) and PLAAT4 are enzymes involved in the synthesis of bioactive lipids. Despite sequential and structural similarities, the two enzymes differ in activity and specificity.

The indane (2,3-dihydro-1H-indene) ring system is an attractive scaffold for biologically active compounds due to the combination of aromatic and aliphatic properties fused together in one rigid system.

PNAS publication on protein encounter complexes

Protein–protein complexes are formed via transient states called encounter complexes that greatly influence the formation of the stereospecific complex.

Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is the principal enzyme responsible for hydrolysis of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). MAGL inhibition provides several potential therapeutic opportunities, including anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity.

The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to develop new methods forchallenging systems in liquid-state NMR using paramagnetic effects generated by thetwo-armed probe CLaNP-5.

Ice, the solid state of water, plays an important role on our planet as well as the entire universe.Despite the fact that an individual water molecule has a very simple structure, its chemical bonding in the solid phase can be surprisingly complex.

Human civilization consumes a huge amount of fossil fuels, which has resulted in an atmospheric CO2 level which has not been higher in over 800 millennia.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M. Ubbink

Despite the history of studies on methanol formation from CO2, the dominant elementary reaction steps that constitute the chemical mechanism for this catalyzed process are not determined.

Global healthcare is on the verge of an antibiotic availability crisis as bacteria have evolved resistance to nearly all known antibacterials. Identifying new antibiotics that operate via novel modes-of-action is therefore of high priority.

The main subject of this thesis is the design and synthesis of paramagnetic molecules for protein studies with NMR and EPR spectroscopy.

Bet v1, the major allergen in birch pollen, is one of the main causes of allergies such as asthma and rhino-conjunctivitis. Additionally it is the main cause of birch pollen allergy in humans.

Cambridge University Press has published a new book co-authored by researchers from Leiden University, offering both an introduction to machine learning and deep neural networks, and an overview of their applications in quantum physics and chemistry — from reinforcement learning for controlling quantum…

This thesis describes the development and optimization of the first molecular tools to study the enzyme PLA2G4E.

Promotor: J.P. Abrahams, Co-Promotor: N.S. Pannu

Leiden University has developed a radically different method for large scale production of diverse nanoparticles and their alloys.

Due to their central physiological roles in living organisms, retaining beta-glycosidases have been the subject of tremendous research efforts to examine their structure/function relation using numerous biophysical and biochemical approaches.

This thesis describes the structural and biochemical characterization of the β-lactamase BlaC from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), and the Alr and YlmE proteins from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).Mtb is the main cause of tuberculosis.

In this thesis I highlight the applications of Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing. This technique is a relatively new approach in the sequencing field, where nanopores are embedded in a membrane, DNA molecules are pulled through nanopores and an electrical current serving as the sequencing…

Marc Koper’s research focuses on electrocatalysis and electrochemical surface science for sustainable energy and chemistry. Reactions of interest are the redox reactions of the oxygen/hydrogen cycle (water oxidation, hydrogen evolution), the carbon cycle (reduction of carbon dioxide, oxidation of small…