Promotor: M.A.G.J. Orrit

Despite the fact that gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are one of the most studied nanoparticles, there is still a necessity for new approaches allowing for effective protective coating to enable wider use of GNPs in biomedical applications.

Gold nanorods are biocompatible nanoparticles that present an excellent two-photon signal that can be used to get high spatial resolution inside living cells. Gold nanorods are photostable and therefore can be followed inside cells for long time, with possible applications as trackers in live cells.

Gold nanoparticles show surprisingly strong interactions with light in the visible range, which can be divided into scattering, absorption, and photoluminescence.

In this work, we investigate the minute circular dichroism effects of single nanoparticles.To this aim, we apply photothermal imaging with a polarization-modulated heating beam.

Promotor: M.A.G.J. Orrit

Metal-based prodrugs based on ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes have proven to be very suitable for application in both photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photo-activated chemotherapy (PACT).

Fate and toxicity of copper nanoparticles was related to the water chemistry of the environment and pristine size.

The findings in this thesis improve the understanding of 1) the relationship between exposure characteristics and toxicity of ENPs, 2) the joint toxic action of ENP mixtures and the comparison to metal salt mixtures, 3) how NOM affects the individual and joint toxicity of ENPs, 4) the extent of trophic…

Promotores: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg & Dr. M.G. Vijver

The aim is to discover where differently shaped metal nanoparticles distributes in Danio rerio, linking the distribution with genomic responses and so come up with a Mode of Action.

Promotores: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg & Dr. M.G. Vijver

The work described in this dissertation contributes to a better mechanistic understanding of nanoparticles in vivo. To achieve that goal, we used the zebrafish as a highly predictive pre-screening model of nanoparticles.

What is the mechanism of action preceding a physiological effects induced by metallic nanoparticles?

This thesis aimed to investigate the impact of exposure dynamics, relative contributions of ENPs(particle) and ENPs(ion), and dosing regimens on the toxicity of ENPs varying in different physico-chemical properties, on the composition and functioning of soil microbial communities.

Promotie

1. To what extent do metallic NPs added to soil extractions change the activity, abundance, or community composition of microbes? 2. How do the effects of metallic NPs on soil microbes differ from the effects of the ions shedding from corresponding NPs?

Promotores: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg & Dr. M.G. Vijver

This thesis describes a study from both a theoreticaL and an experimental point of view.

Promotor: T.J. Aartsma, Co-promotor: R.N. Frese

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.W.M. Frenken

Promotor: A. Kros

This thesis focuses on the application of lipid-based nanomedicine in drug delivery, including small molecular antitumor drugs and biomacromolecules including mRNA, and evaluates their biological performance.

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Promotor: A. Kros, Co-promotor: R.R.C.L. Olsthoorn

Bet v1, the major allergen in birch pollen, is one of the main causes of allergies such as asthma and rhino-conjunctivitis. It is the main cause of birch pollen allergy in humans.

Promotor: J.M. van Ruitenbeek, Co-Promotor: S.J. van der Molen

Describe and identify what dosimetry parameters are of importance to interpret dose-response relationships (eg., mortality, sub-lethal, growth or reproduction inhabitation, DNA damage and reactive oxygen species, etc. ) for metal-based nanoparticles? How to develop quantitative models that enable to…

This thesis is a collection of experimental attempts to enhance photoluminescence of fluorescent molecules and quantum dots with single gold nanorods (GNRs) and relevant applications.

Individuele moleculen zijn extreem moeilijk te zien via hun zwakke fluorescentie. Piepkleine gouden nanostaafjes fungeren als nieuwe antennes om hun signaal 500 maal te versterken. Publicatie op 24 februari in Angewandte Chemie.

Lezing

Promotie

Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic disease caused by blood dwelling parasitic trematodes of the genus Schistosoma, and it is classified as the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease, second only to malaria.

Although nanoparticles are extensively used in various applications like consumer products and have most probably entered the environment, little is known about the effects of these particles on living organisms.

De virtuele tentoonstelling Gold Matter is nu live en kan online worden bezocht. Deze tentoonstelling is het resultaat van een samenwerking tussen kunstenaars, leden van mijnbouwgemeenschappen, en onderzoekers van het Gold Matters project. De tentoonstelling toont verschillende foto's, video's en kunstwerken…

Cathodic corrosion is a relatively unknown phenomenon that can severely etch metallic electrodes at cathodic (negative) potentials.

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…

Assessing the risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) solely on the basis of experimental assays is time-consuming, resource intensive, and constrained by ethical considerations (such as the principles of the 3Rs of animal testing). The adoption of computational toxicology in this field is a high p…

In summary, the collective results described in this thesis show that nanoparticulate vaccines can be delivered intradermally by coated and hollow microneedles and evoke antigen-specific immune responses.

The experiments described in this thesis employ local lentiviral knockdowns in brain areas of female zebra finches followed by behavioural assays consisting of preference and Go/Nogo tasks.

How to make a quantitative assessment of the relative contribution to toxicity of ions and particles? Is the toxicity of nanoparticles related to their size or shape? Which physicochemical property of nanoparticles is an appropriate dose metric of nanoparticles?

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.

The external tissues of plants and animals are colonized by microbial communities termed microbiota. When organisms are exposed to environmental pollutants, these substances will therefore encounter microbiota at the exposure interface.

Afgelopen week publiceerde de Volkskrant de reportage 'Rond de bloedgoudmijnen van Burkina Faso heerst de angst voor terreur'. In deze reportage beschrijft Carlijne Vos hoe Burkina Faso in rap tempo destabiliseert. De lucratieve goudmijnen zijn het hoofdpodium van islamitische en etnische strijdgroepen.…

This work describes several studies into the electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO2RR), both regarding mechanistical aspects and catalyst stability considerations. Mechanistic insights into carbon-carbon bond formation on a silver catalyst are described in Ch 2, were we find an acetaldehyde-like surface…

Promotor: W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: A. Kros

This thesis focuses on the synthesis, characterization and performance towards CO2 electroreduction of mono and bi-metallic particles based on p-block metals

Emeritus hoogleraar Rob Verpoorte kreeg de hoogste wetenschappelijke onderscheiding van de Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research uitgereikt.