Retinal gene delivery via intravitreal injection is hampered by various physiological barriers present in the eye of which the vitreoretinal (VR) interface represents the most serious hurdle. We present a retinal explant model especially designed to study the role of this interface as a barrier for

Last updated on: 24-03-2020 - 16:26

Contact: Katrien Remaut
Organisation: Ghent University (UGent)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
Most of the current rigid-body models of the complete thoracolumbar spine do not properly model the intervertebral joint as the highly nonlinear stiffness is not incorporated comprehensively and the effects of compressive load on stiffness are commonly being neglected. Based on published in vitro

Last updated on: 19-03-2020 - 11:07

Contact: Wei Wang
Organisation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Partners: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
Design and fabrication of microfluidic devices that allow manipulation and analysis of (single) cells. Droplet-based as well as digital microfluidics can be applied and are suitable for a wide variety of (non-adherent) cells. Different materials can be used for the fabrication of the microfluidic

Last updated on: 10-03-2020 - 14:54

Contact: Cannot be disclosed
Organisation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Status: Still in development, Published in peer reviewed journal
Mononuclear cells are flushed from the bone marrow using a 25G needle. After centrifugation, the cells are resuspended in 50mL pre-heated DMEM containing 20ng/ml M-CSF. The cells are cultured in 10cm petri dishes for 7 days. At days 2,4 and 6, the medium is renewed after washing away non-adherent

Last updated on: 10-03-2020 - 10:17

Contact: Cannot be disclosed
Organisation: Ghent University (UGent)
Partners: Ghent University hospital (UZ Gent)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
Organotypic epithelial raft cultures accurately reproduce the process of epithelial differentiation in vitro and can be prepared from normal keratinocytes, explanted epithelial tissue, or established cell lines. Normal primary human keratinocytes (PHKs) stratify and fully differentiate in a manner

Last updated on: 04-03-2020 - 14:34

Contact: Graciela Andrei
Organisation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Status: History of use, Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
Brain from treated and not treated mice is collected after death. Tissue is fixed in 4% PFA for 4 days. After specific cutting (ex. L and R hemisphere) tissue is placed in a cassette. Cassette is placed in Tissue Processor (where water from the tissue is removed and replaced with paraffin). Brain is

Last updated on: 04-03-2020 - 14:20

Contact: Cannot be disclosed
Organisation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Status: History of use, Internally validated
Since adult zebrafish retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) can fully regenerate upon axonal injury, these neurons form the ideal subject to study what is driving the recovery process. The use of an adult zebrafish retinal cell culture in a microfluidic set-up enables to create a neuronal network, mimicking

Last updated on: 02-03-2020 - 16:01

Organisation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Status: Still in development
This is a method to study host-microbe interaction in the upper respiratory tract. A physiologically representative epithelial structure, with mucin producing and ciliated cells, is obtained by culturing respiratory epithelial cells at air-liquid interface in Transwell inserts. Optionally,

Last updated on: 28-02-2020 - 10:51

Organisation: Ghent University (UGent)
Status: Still in development, History of use, Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
Organotypical culture models, such as retinal explants, is an ideal alternative for in vitro retinal cell cultures and preclinical animal models, as they provide the necessary compromise between these two model systems. The major advantage of explant cultures is that cells are kept within their

Last updated on: 21-02-2020 - 14:51

Contact: Evy Lefevere
Organisation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Status: Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
We have developed and validated yeast models to study aspects related to protein folding diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. These models allow to gain further insight in the cellular processes involved in the etiology of these disorders and as such identify potential new bio-markers

Last updated on: 11-02-2020 - 11:17

Contact: Joris Winderickx
Organisation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal