Binnen het BioClock consortium willen we onderzoek gaan doen naar hoe kennis van de biologische klok kan worden ingezet voor een gezondere en veerkrachtigere samenleving. Door middel van het matchmaking event willen we vragen die spelen binnen de samenleving omtrent de biologische klok identificeren, de samenwerking tussen verschillende partijen versterken, en de commitment van nieuwe partijen bevorderen.

Intracellular bacteria, like Salmonella, are bacteria that enter, reside, and replicate inside the cells of their host. To achieve this, bacteria can hijack intracellular molecular signals to remodel the host cell organization and form a membrane-bound bacterial niche. Ubiquitin is a small protein that allows cells to control their organization. The project interrogates how bacteria manipulate the host ubiquitin signals to reshape their host cell organization. Hence, this research may reveal a new mechanism by which bacteria establish their intracellular replicative niche.

The timing of light exposure, physical activity, and food intake are important cues for synchronising the biological clock. Disruption of the biological clock is a clear threat to both public health and vulnerable ecosystems. Especially in a highly industrialised country such as The Netherlands there is a mismatch between biological clocks and social demands. However, these cues have drastically – and abruptly - changed in our modern society due to the widespread use of artificial light and the round-the-clock demand for goods and services. Fundamental research has shown that precisely these conditions cause desynchrony among clock cells.

Unraveling the ubiquitin code Signal proteins play a crucial role in resolving problems, such as infection or DNA damage, in a cell. One of those signals is brought about by a small protein called ubiquitin. It was recently shown that ubiquitin is involved in more processes then was known to date and also in a different manner then was always assumed. With some new to be developed chemical tools we will find out how this exactly works, which enzymes are involved and how the cell is able to differentiate between al these distinct signals.

Glucosylceramide (GlcCer) is a ubiquitous cellular building block that fulfils important, but in some aspects little appreciated, roles in health and disease. We aim to obtain fundamental insight in GlcCer metabolism in its broadest sense and generate new biomarkers and diagnostics, and ultimately new therapeutics. Well-known GlcCer metabolites are complex glycosphingolipids implicated in signaling processes. Their excess is associated with Metabolic Syndrome. A less studied GlcCer metabolite is glucosylsphingosine, recently shown to induce Multiple Myeloma. Additional GlcCer metabolites are glucosylated sterols and other glucosylated metabolites that emerge after transfer of glucose from GlcCer. During inherited deficiency of glucosylceramidase GBA1 (Gaucher disease, a multi-organ lysosomal storage disease), GlcCer and its metabolites accumulate. Impaired GBA1 constitutes a known but unexplained risk for Parkinsonism. Pathological consequences of excessive glucosylation of sterols and other metabolites warrant elucidation. We plan to identify glucosylated metabolites of GlcCer and obtain structural and spatio-temporal insight in GlcCer metabolism by glycosidases. The aim is to understand the cellular consequences of GlcCer metabolites as a first step towards manipulating the associated diseases. Assembled is an interdisciplinary platform with input from synthetic organic chemistry, cell biology, structural biology, medical biochemistry and industry to dissect GlcCer metabolism from various angles.