Viral diseases constitute one of the major challenges in modern medicine. Membrane-targeting have broad-spectrum potential and could distinguish viral membranes from the host cell plasma membrane by the difference in membrane curvature.

Conact the Cellular Chemistry group

Within this thesis the central stage is taken by the discovery and investigation of transglycosylation of sterols. First, investigation focuses on the development of a method to accurately detect and quantify glucosylated metabolites in biological materials.

This thesis describes the development of a variety of mannosylated conjugates. Antigen presenting cells bear mannoside recognizing receptors that actively transport antigen into the cell. This thesis exploits this feature for the development of improved vaccines.

The adsorption of D2 and CO2 on catalyst surfaces is studied using a molecular beam in ultra-high vacuum.

To design the ideal water oxidation catalyst, understanding of the catalytic mechanism and decomposition pathways is essential.

Contact Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistry

This thesis aimed to investigate core cross-linked polymeric micelles (CCPMs) and expand their potential for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs and co-factors.

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-Promotor: L.B.F. Juurlink

Theorists have recently made substantial progress in simulating reactive molecule-metal surface scattering but still face major challenges. The grand challenge is to develop an approach that enables accurate predictive calculations of reactions involving electronically excited states with potential…

Contact information & address

Contact information & address

The probability for dissociation of molecules on metal surfaces, which often controls the rate of industrially important catalytic processes, can depend strongly on how energy is partitioned in the incident molecule. There are many example systems where the addition of vibrational energy promotes reaction…

Cyclic peptides are investigated as a platform to induce different orientations between various ligands.

The research described in this Thesis was aimed at designing and synthesizing nature-inspired compounds as part of TB vaccine discovery.

The research described in this thesis focused on the preparation of S/N functionalized carbene ligands and their transition metal complexes, and the exploration of their application as electrocatalysts for proton reduction.

In this thesis, the researcher developed a nanosystem based on the metallophilic Interaction between cyclometalated complexes.

Promotor: M. Ubbink, Co-promotor: G. Siegal

Evolution acts via mutations in amino acid sequences. Substitution of essential amino acids leads to a nonfunctional protein. l.

Sphingolipids are important membrane compounds with a variety of functions. In mammalian cells, different enzymes are involved in the metabolism of sphingolipids, but interruption of this metabolism process leads to different diseases.

M.T.M. Koper, Co-promotor: D.G.H. Hetterscheid

Although it is often assumed that the stereochemistry in Ugi multicomponent reactions is determined in the final Mumm rearrangement step, experimental and computational evidence that Ugi reactions on hydroxylated pyrrolines proceed under kinetic control is reported.

Contact Theoretical Chemistry

Promotor: E. Bouwman Co-Promotor: S. Bonnet

An accurate description of reactive scattering of molecules on metal surfaces often requires the modeling of energy transfer between the molecule and the surface phonons. Although ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) can describe this energy transfer, AIMD is at present untractable for reactions with…

This thesis presents the first synthetic peptides ADP-ribosylated on serine, threonine, tyrosine, arginine and cysteine.

The work described in this Thesis is focused on the assembly of oligosaccharide fragments derived from a fungal polysaccharide, galactosaminogalactan (GAG) and fragments of the exopolysaccharide Pel, generated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is the substrate used for the introduction of the ubiquitous and highly dynamic PTM in which either one or multiple adenosine diphosphate ribose (ADPr) moieties are covalently attached to a nucleophilic side chain of an specific amino acid in the target protein…

Neuraminidases are enzymes that cleave glycosidic linkages of sialic acid. These enzymes are involved in influenza infections as well as in many cellular processes in mammals and micro-organisms.

Photocatalysis has emerged as a powerful tool for enabling challenging transformations in organic synthesis. This thesis explores the development of several photocatalytic reactions designed to form carbon-heteroatom bonds from less-functionalized precursors.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy is a non-destructive analytical technique that is used to study the nature and characteristics of molecules with an atomic level precision. It has a wide range of applications especially in synthetic chemistry, biological and biochemical research groups…

This thesis describes the use of an activity-based proteomics method to study the endocannabinoid system.

In this thesis we have discussed several parameters that affect the electrochemical conversion of enviromentaly harmful molecules such as nitrates and carbon dioxide to more valuable and less deleterious compounds, in order to cast light onto the mechanism of the reaction to achieve an efficient and…

Nature uses a special class of histone proteins, histone variants, to modulate the properties of chromatin at defined genomic locations.

This project aims at determining the market value of hydrogen peroxide (HP) that is produced via our electrochemical methods that have been developed as part of the ERC-StG Cu4Energy project.

BlaC is the β-lactamase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We show that it can recover from inhibition by clavulanic acid and that phosphate helps it do so.

Promotores: H.S. Overkleeft, G.A. van der Marel, Co-Promotor: J.D.C. Codee

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.P. Abrahams

This dissertation contains four works during my PhD. Different biomaterials have been designed based on coiled-coil peptides. These biomaterials have a range of applications, inclusing drug delivery, cell sorting to cell-cell fusion.

Cytotoxic T-cells (CTLs) are involved in the clearance of viruses and killing of tumor cells.

A new type of tripodal squaramide-based supramolecular hydrogels is developed and studied.

Promotor: M. Ubbink, Co-Promotor: R. T. Dame

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.

Promotor: M. Ubbink, Co-promotor: G. Siegal

Light-Harvesting Complex II (LHCII) is responsible for light absorption and excitation energy transfer in plants and photosynthetic algae, while in high light it undergoes conformational changes by which it quenches excitations to prevent photodamage.

The main goal of this thesis is to achieve advanced control of binding properties in bis-pyrrolic and macrocyclic pyrrolic receptors by light.

This thesis has described novel synthetic methods to produce a variety of (glyco)peptides and their application in the study of various immunological processes.

Chemical tools to monitor drug-target engagement of endogenously expressed protein kinases are highly desirable for preclinical target validation in drug discovery. Here, we describe a chemical genetics strategy to selectively study target engagement of endogenous kinases.

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-Promotor: F. Calle-Vallejo

Promotores: Prof.dr. H.S. Overkleeft, Prof.dr. G.A. van der Marel