Vancomycin is a last-resort antibiotic for the treatment of many Gram-positive bacterial infections, while remaining inactive against Gram-negative strains.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel

Bacteria are highly complex and diverse organisms that have adapted to survive in ecological niches ranging from the most extreme to the most heterogeneous environments.

The prevalence of obesity (BMI >40 kg/m2) has increased rapidly over the recent years, not only in adults, but also in children and adolescents.

Global healthcare is on the verge of an antibiotic availability crisis as bacteria have evolved resistance to nearly all known antibacterials. Identifying new antibiotics that operate via novel modes-of-action is therefore of high priority.

This thesis describes the structural and biochemical characterization of the β-lactamase BlaC from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), and the Alr and YlmE proteins from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).Mtb is the main cause of tuberculosis.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-promotor: Y.H. Choi

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

Actinobacteria are Gram-positive bacteria that have a complex multicellular life cycle and are well known for their ability to produce a wide range of bioactive natural products (NPs).

Extending our current arsenal of antibiotics is key to staying ahead in the arms race between humans and resistant bacteria.

Streptomyces are multicellular, Gram-positive bacteria in the phylum of actinobacteria which produce a high amount of bioactive natural products of which the expression is tightly coordinated with the life cycle.

Hoe kan de techniek van cell wall engineering worden ingezet zodat de industrie streptomyceten beter kunnen verwerken tot nieuwe antibiotica?

Antibiotic resistance, caused by widespread use of antibiotics, leads to bacterial infections that are difficult, if not impossible, to treat and is a major worldwide health concern.

The soil-dwelling, filamentous bacteria of the genus Streptomyces are renowned for their production of useful secondary metabolites including antibiotics. The work described in this thesis provides new insights on the role and regulation of antibiotic production and resistance in these bacteria.

Filamentous Actinobacteria, such as Streptomyces, produce a plethora of chemically diverse bioactive metabolites that have found applications across medicine, agriculture and biotechnology.

The ongoing increase in antimicrobial resistance combined with the low discovery of novel antibiotics is a serious threat to our health care.

Plants are colonized by an astounding number of microorganisms that can provide different life-support functions, including nutrient acquisition and protection against (a)biotic stresses like drought or pathogen attack.

Lezing, Van Leeuwenhoek Lecture on BioScience

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Streptomyces are bacteria abundant in soil that participate in diverse and complex interactions. These bacteria are the main producers of the antibiotics we currently use in the clinic.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel

New drugs for use as tuberculosis (TB) treatment are needed due to the constrains of classical antibiotics against TB and the rise of antibiotic-resistant strains, making TB a harder and harder disease to treat.

Promotores: Prof.dr. C.A.J. Knibbe, Prof.dr. M. Danhof, Prof.dr. K. Allegaert (Leuven)

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This dissertation contains four works during my PhD. Different biomaterials have been designed based on coiled-coil peptides. These biomaterials have a range of applications, inclusing drug delivery, cell sorting to cell-cell fusion.

Wereldwijd overlijdt een groeiend aantal mensen aan infecties omdat steeds meer bacteriën resistent worden tegen antibiotica. Nieuwe soorten zijn dringend nodig. Een veelbelovende resistentie-remmer wordt nu ontwikkeld door de onderzoeksgroep van Nathaniel Martin, hoogleraar Biologische chemie. Oratie…

Mensen die de afgelopen drie maanden antibiotica hebben gebruikt, letten meer op negatieve gezichtsuitdrukkingen, blijkt uit onderzoek van postdoc Katerina Johnson en universitair docent Laura Steenbergen. Dit kan mogelijk verklaren hoe antibiotica het risico op het ontwikkelen van depressie vergroo…

Control of infectious diseases poses continuous challenges for human health.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

The effective treatment of tuberculosis (TB) remains a major challenge to global health.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-promotor: D. Claessen

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel

The filamentous bacteria Streptomyces are widespread inhabitants of terrestrial soils.

Streptomyces present a valuable platform for natural product discovery. Lugdunomycin is a novel angucycline-derived polyketide from Streptomyces sp QL37, with unprecedented skeleton and antimicrobial activity.

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

Almost all bacteria are enveloped by a cell wall that provides cellular protection.

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.

Wanneer een bacterie resistenter wordt voor het ene antibioticum, wordt het soms gevoeliger voor een ander. Om deze wisselwerking beter te begrijpen, brachten onderzoekers van het Instituut Biologie Leiden (IBL) en het Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) onder leiding van Daniel Rozen en…

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To get an idea of the science communication products and research that is possible, a few examples of student projects of recent years are shown below.

Promotor: C.A.J. Knibbe, Co-promotores: H.P.A. van Dongen, B. van Ramshorst

Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen, Instituut Biologie Leiden (IBL)