Supervisor: S.F. Portegies Zwart Co-Supervisor: A.G.A. Brown

This thesis aims to improve the detection from ultra-weak single emitter by enhancing their emission properties with plasmonic nanostructures. We exploit the wet-chemically synthesized single crystalline gold nanorods (GNRs) as our basic frameworks in the whole studies, simply because of their unique…

Inactivating mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes predispose to several types of cancer.

Drug induced organ toxicity is the main problem of the drug development and drug usage in the clinic. The liver and kidneys are the most sensitive organs towards drug induced toxicity.

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

To address the fundamental questions of how life on Earth emerged and how common life may be in the Universe, it is crucial to know the chemical composition of the planet-forming material.

Source: Structure , Volume 22, Issue 8, pp. 1120-1139 (2014)

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

We study the interplay of topology and geometry with chirality for several passive and active systems, employing both analytical and numerical methods.

This thesis investigates reactive interfaces in surface science across three domains: heterogeneous catalysis, environmental nanoplastics, and two-dimensional materials.

Solar energy harnessed by plants and algae has great potential to be converted into biofuels for future generations.

Novel entities may pose risks to humans and the environment. The small particle size and relatively large surface area of micro- and nanoparticles (MNPs) make them capable of adsorbing other novel entities, leading to the formation of aggregated contamination.

This thesis addresses the chemical processes that determine the compositions of giant planet atmospheres.

In this thesis unconventional tools based on fluidic interfaces were developed to study the surface and interfacial chemistry of graphene, to characterize the intrinsic properties of graphene, to disentangle the effects of substrate and of the environmental factors, and to improve handling protocols…

Streptomyces are filamentous bacteria that produce more than two-thirds of known antibiotics.

Promotor: Prof.dr. A. P. IJzerman, Co-Promotor: L.H. Heitman

Promotor: Prof.dr. I.A.G. Snellen, C.U. Keller

The aromatic infrared bands (AIBs) seen throughout the interstellar medium (ISM) are generally thought to be carried by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their nitrogen analogues (PANHs).

Multiple stars, that is two or more stars composing a gravitationally bound system, are common in the universe.

Self-assembly is an abundant process in nature and is vital to many processes in living organisms.

The lipids in the uppermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (SC), play an important role in the skin barrier function. The three main SC lipid classes are ceramides (CER), cholesterol and free fatty acids.

Until the 1990s, the only known planets were those in our Solar System. Three decades later, several thousand exoplanets have been discovered orbiting stars other than the Sun, and substantial efforts have been made to explore these strange new worlds through spectroscopic analyses of their atmosphe…

The chemical and structural heterogeneity of toxoid vaccines makes their analysis challenging. However, detailed insights on a molecular level can be obtained by mass spectrometry.

The sequence-dependence of biomolecular interactions involving nucleic acids and proteins is essential for numerous processes inside the cell. Insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms have been obtained using various biochemical and biophysical methods on two different levels — bulk and sin…

Promotor: P. J. J. Hooykaas, Co-promotor: R. Offringa

Inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis can severely impact both the physical and social aspect of a patient’s life. Aberrant inflammatory responses are thought to be a major causative factor in these disorders, but an abundance of different factors contribute to the development…

In my research, I used a comparative wood anatomical approach to address wood evolution of the (largely) tropical flowering plant families Apocynaceae and Sapotaceae.

Promotor: H.S. Overkleeft, Co-promotor: M. van der Stelt

The PID-directed shift in PIN polarity has been broadly accepted as one of the essential mechanisms for the regulation of auxin transport polarity.

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One of the main challenges in the development of an effective anti-cancer vaccine is the generation of an adequate and directed cellular immune response.

The main aim of this thesis was to unravel the signaling and regulatory networks that drive tumor cell migration during breast cancer metastasis.

This thesis tackles the difficulty of predicting the liver’s clinical response to novel therapies, a challenge arising from interspecies differences and limitations of existing in vitro models.

Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are the most abundant biological entity in nature. They shape bacterial communities and are a major driving force in bacterial evolution.

The studies presented in the work show the potential of the integrative use of biophysical data in defining the structural basis of protein interactions.

MST biedt verschillende voorlichtingsactiviteiten –zowel in Leiden en Delft- om je te helpen bij je studiekeuze.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the cancers with the highest mortality rate, despite a relatively low incidence.

Preterm birth is a major contributor to neonatal morbidity and mortality and is associated with both acute complications and long-term health consequences.

Na de master kiezen de meeste alumni voor een baan in het bedrijfsleven of bij de overheid.

Kom naar Leiden, praat bij met oud-studiegenoten, ontmoet andere vakgenoten en krijg een inkijkje in de huidige stand van zaken van onderwijs en onderzoek van je oude opleiding!

This thesis focuses on the design and synthesis of activity-based probes and inhibitors targeting enzymes involved in the degradation of specific plant glycans.

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

Promotor: G. A. van der Marel, Co-promotor: D. V. Filippov

Biodiversity enables ecosystems to thrive through the synergy of functional differences among organisms. While human well-being strongly depends on biodiversity-driven ecosystem services, human actions are also at the root of current unprecedented biodiversity declines.

Promotores: W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg, G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: M.G. Vijver

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…

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

Dit proefschrift beschrijft een collectie aan alternatieve strategieën voor het begrijpen, ontwerpen en toepassen van lipide nanosystemen, waarin de rol van de bio-nano interacties centraal staan. In het bijzonder wordt gekeken naar de interactie van RNA-lipide nanosystemen, bekend van de toepassing…

This thesis focused on the exploration of monolayer graphene as a membrane in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) applications, with improvements achieved through plasma exposure or damage- free chemical functionalization.