Cultivated liver cells are fixed with 4% (w/v) paraformaldehyde (PFA) for 10 minutes at room temperature and subsequently incubated for 15 minutes with 100 mM glycin solution, used to saturate reactive groups generated after PFA fixation. These cells are subsequently incubated for 10 minutes with 1%

Last updated on: 16-12-2022 - 19:40

Contact: Joery De Kock
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: History of use, Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
E. coli is one of the organisms of choice for the production of recombinant proteins. DH5 alpha cells are commonly used for maintenance, propagation and mutation, whilst BL21(DE3) and C43(DE3) are mainly used for expression of the transgene. The advantage of C43(DE3) is that is used to produce

Last updated on: 03-11-2022 - 07:25

Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Still in development, History of use, Internally validated
Studying spermatogenesis in situ has led to the understanding that the 3D reorganization of testicular cells into an interstitial and tubular compartment is of enormous importance for germ cell differentiation. We will rely on 3D bioprinting technology which gives control over cell deposition and

Last updated on: 06-10-2022 - 14:11

Contact: Guillaume Richer
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Still in development, Published in peer reviewed journal
This method uses human skin-derived precursors (hSKP) differentiated towards hepatic cells (hSKP-HPC) as a hepatic in vitro model. Exposure of these cells for 24 hours to sub-cytotoxic concentrations of acetaminophen, which is a reference hepatotoxicant, induced specific cellular responses in a

Last updated on: 26-05-2022 - 10:39

Contact: Robim Rodrigues
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
Lung cancer thrives in a complex multicellular tumor microenvironment (TME) that impacts tumor growth, metastasis, response, and resistance to therapy. While orthotopic murine lung cancer models can partly recapitulate this complexity, they do not resonate with high-throughput immunotherapeutic drug

Last updated on: 16-03-2022 - 14:53

Contact: Cleo Goyvaerts
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Partners: Institut Curie
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
We established a protocol to efficiently generate hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) from human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). Our procedure generated complex in vitro spheroid cultures that better mimic the complexity of the liver as well as liver function. In co-culture, iPSC-HSCs promote maintenance

Last updated on: 16-03-2022 - 14:49

Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Partners: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
The CALUX method is an in vitro bioassay that uses reporter gene cell lines that have been stably transfected with a luciferase reporter gene under the control of relevant receptor specific DNA response element. This enables the screening for chemicals that can bind to specific receptors and

Last updated on: 16-03-2022 - 14:47

Contact: Imke Boonen
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Amoebae are natural eukaryotic predators of bacteria, yeasts, fungi and they are ubiquiste. They are excellent and easy-to-use cellular infection models, as they allow to co-cultivate any organisms in a broad range of infection medium, compatible with high quality microscopy techniques,

Last updated on: 16-03-2022 - 14:45

Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
A calculated number of bacteria is injected through the pro-legs of the larvae. As several entry points are present, this allows to inject virulent bacteria and potential antimicrobial compounds within the same host. The survival of the larvae is scored over time (days post inoculation) until about

Last updated on: 16-03-2022 - 14:43

Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal