Our immune system protects us against disease, but every now and then, something goes wrong: an enemy invades our bodies or our immune system attacks our own cells and we become ill. Doctors and researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) want to be able to manipulate the immune system…

We investigate bacteria and fungi to understand their malicious or beneficial impact on food crops and their pathogenic or antibiotic role in human health.

The overall aim of this project is to understand, on the molecular level, how the bacterium V. fischeri cells interacts with their squid host.

This functional genomics project aims at understanding the biology of the underlying mycelium differentiation and autolysis processes in much more detail.

Unraveling the immune-suppressive actions of drugs like prednisone.

We aim to provide new insights relating to the spectacular multi-cellular life cycle of streptomycetes and other actinobacteria.

By carrying out fundamental research and providing excellent education, universities become a breeding ground for innovation and entrepreneurship.

To get a feeling of how we operate at LED3 when it comes to Early Drug Discovery, please browse through our case studies. When you select a case study you’ll find relevant contacts.

Lecture

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink, Co-promotor: Prof.dr. A.H. Meijer

Every organisms in the tree of life faces the same challenge: the length of its DNA exceeds the volume of the cell it needs to fit in. Several strategies have evolved to solve this problem, one of them being the expression of proteins that bind and organize the DNA.

Streptomyces bacteria are a valuable source of natural products, many of which are used in the clinic or in biotechnology.

Glycoconjugate vaccines are composed of microbial poly- or oligosaccharides covalently linked to a carrier protein.

This work has described synthetic strategies towards well-defined structures resembling capsular polysaccharide (CPS) fragments, CPS mimics, teichoic acid (TA) fragments as well as a third-generation ring-closing tandem metathesis (RCM) linker to better exploit the potential of automated synthesis.

Promotor: Prof.dr. J. Kuiper, Co-Promotor: S.C.A. de Jager

Can the pink-pigmented microbe Methylobacterium extorquens be genetically engineered to convert the sustainable raw material methanol into antibiotics?

Promotor: J.A. van Veen, Co-promotor: E.E. Kuramae

Given the accelerating appearance of antimicrobial resistance, there is an urgent need for more fundamental research into novel antibiotic strategies. The work in this thesis helps to address this global problem by developing new antibiotic compounds, inspired by the antibacterial mechanisms of the…

The key characteristic of active matter is the motion of an emergent collection (such as a flock of birds), which is driven by the consumption of energy by its active components (i.e. individual birds).

Promotores: Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink & Prof.dr. P.C.W. Hogendoorn, Co-promotor: Dr. M.J.M. Schaaf

Natural product inspired antibiotics to address resistance

This ecological community has long been known to affect host biology, and their diverse roles have been further clarified in recent years following numerous studies of animal:microbiota interactions in diverse systems.

Bacterial biocatalysis constitutes a sustainable alternative for high-value chemicals production by enabling the utilization of renewable feedstocks.

How soil microbial composition impacts structure and composition of the aboveground plant and animal communities?

Macromolecular Biochemistry is a section of the Leiden Institute of Chemistry at Leiden University, comprising the PIs Marcellus Ubbink, Remus Dame, Aimee Boyle, Lars Jeuken and Anne Wentink.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel

Animal Sciences’ contributions to the Host-Microbe Interactions research theme focus on the interaction of animal hosts with pathogenic microbes but also the beneficial role of the gut microbiome.

The CMCB brings together a diverse range of unique expertise in microbial cell biology. Members of the CMCB investigate both model and non-model organisms, bacteria and archaea, pathogens and non-pathogens.

Control of infectious diseases poses continuous challenges for human health.

Carbohydrates are present on the surface of bacteria making them suitable antigen candidates for vaccine development. This thesis deals with the synthesis of two carbohydrate-based components; the capsular polisaccharide of S. aureus type 5 and teichoic acids from staphilococci and enterococci speci…

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

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink, Co-promotor: Dr. M. van der Zee

Promotor: G.A. van der Marel, Co-promotor: J.D.C. Codée

What is the function of the insect serosa?

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…

Doctoral Thesis

Effective host defence against tuberculosis bacteria depends on a properly balanced level of inflammation. The Inflammafish project uses zebrafish larvae to study how autophagy controls this inflammation and vice versa.

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel, Co-Promotores: S.C.Hille, O.W. van Gaans

What is the role of cell wall-deficiency in the persistence of tuberculosis?

How can we find novel natural products from Actinomycetes that act as growth modulators on mammalian cells? Can we harvest and develop the potential of these novel compounds for industrial and medical biotechnology?

The CIGR brings together a diverse range of unique expertise in genome research rooted in biology, chemistry and physics. Members of the CIGR investigate genome folding and genome transactions. An important aspect is direct as well as long term relevance for medicine.

Artificial photosynthesis aims to produce fuels from solar energy using chemical processes. In semi-artificial photosynthesis, a hybrid approach is taken using both chemical and biotechnology approaches. We aim to develop hybrid systems between light-harvesting nanoparticles and redox-enzymes (oxidoreductases)…

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink, Co-promotor: Prof. dr. A.H. Meijer

With the powerful electron microscopes at NeCEN we study abnormalities in cells of blood vessels in cardiovascular disease, the interaction between pathogens and hosts in infectious diseases, molecular processes that cause cancer and the interaction between drugs and target proteins. Drug development…

From nanoparticles to colliding ice planets and from biological origami to new x-ray scanner techniques: this year again, our scientists have made wonderful discoveries. From the largest numbers to the smallest molecules and from the oldest galaxies up to the latest algorithms, take a look at each institute's…

The main focus of the thesis is the discovery and development of novel inhibitors of bacterial metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs).