Dr. Monique Mulder

Research:

I am trained as an organic/medicinal chemist and nowadays take advantage of chemistry in combination with chemical biology techniques to interrogate the complex Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS). Protein post-translational modification by ubiquitin (Ub) is a versatile signal regulating system, controlled by a complex enzymatic network, and influences almost all aspects of normal cell biology and pathogenesis. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the Ub system is critical in the study of cell biology, disease treatment and prevention. I specialized in the design of unique molecular tools that allow the study of protein (de)ubiquitination and the crosstalk with ubiquitin-like proteins. The main emphasis of my research is to provide insights in protein ubiquitination and its dysregulation in disease, including new tools and methodology to translate this into therapeutic strategies.

Curriculum Vitae:

I completed my PhD in medicinal chemistry at Utrecht University studying the design and synthesis of a novel class of macrocyclic antifungal peptides. I then moved to the Netherlands Cancer Institute and joined the group of Prof. Dr. Huib Ovaa as a postdoc where my research focused on the design of novel activity based probes to study enzymatic activity, using a chemical biology approach. This work, which continues to actively develop in my group at the LUMC, set the basis for our current studies on E3 ligases and the role of the UPS in neurodegeneration.

Our research is funded by grants from ZonMW (OffRoad 2018, Open Competition 2022), NWO VIDI (2021) and the NWO-supported consortium CureQ (2022 “Nederlandse Wetenschaps Agenda”).

.