Cell & Chemical Biology - News Feed

Afscheids symposium en college Prof. dr. Joke H. Meijer

lumcccb — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 10:40:00 +0100

Op vrijdag 27 March 2026 neemt prof. dr. Joke H. Meijer afscheid middels een symposium waarin ziij ook haar laatste college ‘Met het oog op de tijd’ zal geven.

Afscheids symposium en college Prof. dr. Rob Hoeben

lumcccb — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:21:00 +0100

Op vrijdag 10 april 2026 neemt prof. dr. Rob Hoeben afscheid middels een symposium waarin hij ook zijn laatste college Oncolytische virussen bestaan! zal geven.

Deciphering the Regulatory Landscape of Enhancer RNAs in Health and Disease

lumcccb — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:19:00 +0100

Please check our latest review by Chuannan Fan and Qian Wang to learn more about enhancer RNAs. These eRNA species contribute to complex and dynamic gene regulatory networks in both physiological and pathological conditions through diverse mechanisms.

Eenvoudige bloedtest voor vroege kankerdetectie - Dr. Agustin Enciso Martinez and Sherif Bayoumy

lumcccb — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 09:27:00 +0100

Eierstokkanker is de dodelijkste gynaecologische kankersoort, omdat de meeste vrouwen te laat worden gediagnosticeerd. De onderzoekers ontdekten dat tumoren minuscule deeltjes in het bloed afgeven, tumorblaasjes genaamd, die een unieke suiker bevatten die niet in gezonde blaasjes voorkomt.

Interview Joke Meijer met het Reformatorisch Dagblad Magazine “Winterslaap is zo gek nog niet”

lumcccb — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 15:58:00 +0100

Als de (kerkelijke) activiteiten in de donkerste weken van het jaar over elkaar heen buitelen, komt het concept winterslaap me weleens verleidelijk voor. Lekker binnen blijven, wollen sloffen aan, met een boek op de bank. Rustig aan doen in de winter: daar is volgens chronobioloog prof. Joke Meijer van het Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum veel voor te zeggen.

THESIS DEFENCE MARIUS WITS

lumcccb — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 15:30:00 +0100

Thesis defence: November 20th, 2025 16:00 at the Academiegebouw Leiden

PhD-candidate: Marius Wits

Title: Redirecting TGG-β signaling pathways: Advancing targeting therapy for PAH an FOP.

Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dr. M.J.T.H. Goumans

Co-Thesis Advisor: Dr. G. Sanchez-Duffhues

THESIS DEFENCE LYNN WILLEMS

lumcccb — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 14:11:00 +0100

Thesis defence: December 2nd, 2025 13:00 at the' Tweede Hoofdwet' Leuven, België

PhD-candidate: Lynn Willems

Title: 'PIN'NING DOWN ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION AND THROMBOSIS IN CTEPH

Thesis Advisor KU Leuven: Prof. Dr. Marion Delcroix

Thesis Advisor LUMC: Prof. Dr. Marie-José Goumans

Co-Thesis Advisors: Dr. Rozenn Quarck, Prof. Dr. Erik Klok and Dr. Babu Kurakula

Extracellular vesicle coronal proteins enhance TGF-β signaling in target cells by inducing receptor clustering

lumcccb — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 11:10:00 +0100

We set out to investigate how extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from TGF‐β‐activated cancer-associated fibroblast (CAFs) (TGF‐β‐EVs) sustain CAF activation and impair the cancer cell-killing ability of CD8+ T cells. Rather than the transfer of EC cargo to recipient cells, we discovered that an EV-target cell contact-dependent process is the key determinant. TGF‐β‐EV surface-associated (coronal) proteins promote the proximity of multiple receptors in target cells, enabling potent TGF-β receptor signaling.

C. Li, A. Enciso‐Martinez, et al. “Surface‐Associated Proteins on Extracellular Vesicles Remodel the Tumor Microenvironment by Potentiating TGF‐β Signaling in a Contact‐Dependent Manner.” Adv. Sci. (2025): e13286.

Ciricular RNA drives cancer cell plasticity

lumcccb — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 11:29:00 +0100

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of covalently closed, single-stranded RNA molecules formed through back-splicing of precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) transcripts. Whether they play a role in regulating TGF-b signaling is largely unknown. We identified circTGFBR2(3-6), a circRNA derived from TGF-β receptor 2 (TGFBR2) pre-mRNA, as a novel potentiator of TGF-β/SMAD signaling at the receptor level and highlight IGF2BP3 as a critical m6A reader that mediates circTGFBR2(3-6)-driven breast cancer cell plasticity.

THESIS DEFENCE ZHEN LI

lumcccb — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 15:06:00 +0200

Thesis defence: October 8th, 2025 10:00 at the Lokhorstkerk

PhD-candidate: Zhen Li

Title: Combinatorial testing of viral vector and CRISPR systems for precision genome editing

Thesis Advisor: Prof.dr. RC Hoeben

Co-Thesis Advisor: Dr. MFV Gonçalves

THESIS DEFENCE ANGELA F. EL HEBIESHY

lumcccb — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 12:56:00 +0200

Thesis defence: October 16th, 2025 13:00

PhD-candidate: Angela F. el Hebieshy

Title: Repurposing ubiquitination for innovative antibody conjugation

Thesis Advisor: Prof.dr. Jacques Neefjes

Co-Thesis Advisor: Dr. F.A. Scheeren & Dr. G.J. van der Heden van Noort

THESIS DEFENCE ELISABETH SPRONCK

lumcccb — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 11:02:00 +0200

Thesis defence: September 4, 2025 10:00AM

PhD-candidate: Elisabeth Anna Spronck

Title: Advancing AAV mediated gene therapy for brain and liver indications

LncRNA THAT ACTS AS MOLECULAR GLUE FOR TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR COMPLEXES AND PROMOTES CANCER CELL PLASTICITY

lumcccb — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 09:28:00 +0200

The cytokine TGF-β triggers cancer cells to become more migratory, invasive, and resistant to chemotherapy. We discovered that a TGF-β–induced long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) called LIMD1-AS1 enhances the SMAD protein response and cancer cell plasticity. LIMD1-AS1 stimulates the formation of a complex between the intracellular TGF-β effector SMAD3 and the transcriptional co-activator p300 by directly interacting with both factors.

THESIS DEFENCE CHAO LI

lumcccb — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 14:39:00 +0200

Thesis defence: September 3, 2025 16:00PM

PhD-candidate: Chao Li

Title: TGF-β and extracellular vesicles in the tumor microenvironment

E3-ligase RNF114 is able to specifically detect Ubiquitinated ADPribose and extend it with K11-Ub chains in response to DNA damage

lumcccb — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:52:00 +0200

In a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort between the van der Heden van Noort laboratory at the Dept. of Cell and Chemical Biology in the Leiden University Medical Center and the Ahel laboratory at University of Oxford researchers Max Kloet, Chatrin Chatrin and Rishov Mukhopadhyay and their teams prepared an ubiquitinated-ADPribose probe and identified a family of RNF E3-ligases to interact with it using proteomics.

Disrupting Intracellular Protein-Protein Interaction to Inhibit Metastasis

lumcccb — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 16:43:00 +0200

In our recent paper we show that the interaction between Ena/VASP and WAVE2 plays a crucial role in coordinating lamellipodial protrusions and cell movement. The specific recognition motif involved in this interaction has a unique secondary structure, but has been very difficult to target with small molecules. We found that both genetic or pharmacological disruption of this interaction can effectively inhibit metastasis.

New tool lights the way to cancer’s hidden messengers

lumcccb — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 19:12:00 +0200

Researchers have uncovered a new method to detect tumour-derived extracellular vesicles (tdEVs)—tiny particles released by cancer cells that play a major role in tumour spread. Until now, tracking these stealthy messengers has been a major challenge due to the lack of specific markers. But a recent discovery has changed that!

Best Thesis Award Netherland Society of Gene and Cell Therapy to Qian Wang

lumcccb — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 17:28:00 +0200

Qian Wang from the Genome editing group of the Cell and Chemical Biology Department (LUMC) is the winner of the Greiner Bio-One Award 2024 from the Netherlands Society of Gene and Cell Therapy for the best Dutch thesis on gene or cell therapy research.

THESIS DEFENCE ALEXANDER FRANS CHRISTIAAN HULSBERGEN

lumcccb — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 08:42:00 +0200

Thesis defence: June 26, 2025 02.30 PM

PhD candidate: Alexander Frans Christiaan Hulsbergen

Title: Neurosurgical Management of Brain Metastases in the Era of Modern Oncology

THESIS DEFENCE SANNE LANDMAN

lumcccb — Wed, 28 May 2025 09:12:00 +0200

Thesis defence: June 25, 2025 10.00AM

PhD-candidate: Sanne Landman

Title: Recognition, immune evasion, and exploitation of DNA viruses