This thesis advances our understanding of lipid uptake, a vital first step in lipid metabolism, by developing innovative click chemistry-based tools to study how immune cells internalize lipids.

The overall theme of this thesis is to complement the electrochemical data acquired in fuel cell research with in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS).

Neurodegenerative diseases pose a large medical and societal challenge. The etiology of these diseases is still poorly understood, which makes drug discovery for these diseases difficult.

In the emerging field of small-molecule RNA targeting, there is a growing demand for new high-throughput screening methods.

This thesis focuses on developing new chemical synthesis strategies to produce native ADP‑ribosylated biomolecules with precise structural control.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have enabled the success of mRNA vaccines but remain limited in broader therapeutic use by challenges in delivery efficiency, targeting, and mechanistic understanding.

This thesis investigates catalytic reactions at the atomic scale using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), with a focus on Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, a key industrial process that converts hydrogen and carbon monoxide into liquid fuels.

Gaucher disease is a rare metabolic disorder, in which a mutation of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GBA1) causes buildup of its substrate glucosylceramide and the deacylated counterpart glucosylsphingosine in lysosomes.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest threats to human health worldwide in the coming decennia.

This thesis investigates innovative and classical strategies in glycoconjugate vaccine development to address the growing threat of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

Glycosidases are essential in fundamental biological processes and are responsible for the degradation of most (oligo)saccharides, glycolipids and glycoproteins.

Diacylglycerol lipases (DAGLα and DAGLβ) are responsible for the biosynthesis of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) in the brain and peripheral tissues. Selective DAGLβ inhibitors have been proposed as a potential treatment for inflammatory diseases with reduced potential for central…

In this dissertation, the synthesis and characterization of a series of iron complexes based on different ligand platforms are described.

Metal-organic compounds hold great promise as photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT) agents, leveraging their unique geometric and electronic properties to achieve precise spatiotemporal control over drug activation.

Anionic particles play an important role in biological systems where they fulfil many essential functions for cells.

PhD defence

Conference

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In this thesis, bioorthogonal chemistry is combined with correlative light-electron microscopy to selectively label and study pathogenic intracellular bacteria within the host immune cell.

Lecture

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

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an important bulk chemical that is used in various industrial processes. More than 95% of the H2O2 used in industry is made via the anthraquinone process during which a large amount of energy is going to waste.

Promotores: H.S. Overkleeft; G.A. van der Marel Co-Promotor: B.I. Florea

Climate change is a challenge for both current and future generations. New biological resources have to be developed in order to meet the demand for energy as well as the demand for food.

Less than 1 in 10 drug candidates that enter phase 1 clinical trials actually gets approved for human use.

Before the large scale use of renewable energy sources can be implemented in our society, the storage of electrical energy needs to be tackled. Storage the energy as hydrogen via the reduction of protons is a good option.

Microbial rhodopsins are photosensitive pigments implemented in the growth and adaptation of a large population of microorganisms.

As a virtually inexhaustible source, solar energy plays a major role in future global energy scenarios.

This perspective addresses four challenges facing theorists whose aim is to make quantitatively accurate predictions for reactions of molecules on metal surfaces, and suggests ways of meeting these challenges, focusing on dissociative chemisorption reactions of H2, N2, and CH4.

Bacteria often experience external challenges, such as changes in environmental conditions or attacks by bacteriophages.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the deadliest common cancer, with only 8% of patients surviving for five years. One reason for this poor outcome is that current chemotherapy treatments are highly toxic, often leaving patients too sick to receive treatment or forcing doctors to lower the dose…

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

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are a group of orphan diseases characterized by lysosomal dysfunction or impaired lysosomal catabolism and affect collectively about 1 in 5000 live births.

In this thesis, the discovery and optimization is described of chemical tools to study the N-acylethanolamine (NAE) biosynthetic pathway.

Multicopper oxidase, laccase, can efficiently reduce oxygen to water and are mostly used in the enzymatic biofuel cells.

Promotor: H.J.M. de Groot, Co-Promotor: A. Alia

Promotor: J.G.E.M.Fraaije, Co-promotor: A. Kros

Promotores: Prof.dr. H.J.M. de Groot, Prof.dr. J. Matysik (Universitaet Leipzig)

In this thesis an activity-based probe was discovered that could visualize the activity of PLAATs. With an optimized gel-based ABPP assay in hand, screening of a compound library led to the discovery of alpha-ketoamides as a hit for PLAAT3.

Promotor: H.J.M. de Groot, Co-Promotor: A. Alia

In surface science there is great effort to move from studying simple, flat model surfaces in vacuum to investigating more complex model catalysts in gas environments (in situ). This thesis gives three examples of such studies using microscopy and spectroscopy.

Promotor: Huub J.M. de Groot, Co-promotor: Francesco Buda

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

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.J. Kroes

Synthetic hydrogels that mimic the natural extracellular matrix in the biophysical and biochemical cues it provides to cells are in high demand, however the cell phenotypes as they are observed in vivo in numerous cases have yet to be attained.

Decentralized plug and play systems for energy production are the future picture of our society. Artificial photosynthetic systems are used for this purpose.

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

To this day, all cyclophellitol-based inhibitors and ABPs have been close analogues of their natural substrate counterparts. As a result, these probes showed high selectivity towards their target glycosidases.

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

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