About the Laboratory of Biochemistry
At the Laboratory of Biochemistry the emphasis is on proteins. The central theme is Cellular Biochemistry in which we link protein structure and function to protein activity in a cell and finally to protein function in a complete organism.
Proteins of interest are identified based on the ability of their encoding genes to, for instance, change the fate of a cell, have a function in a precise cellular context or carry out an interesting enzymatic reaction. Transcriptional regulators control networks of genes and are studied at the protein structure level, their dynamics inside cells and their function in cellular and organismal context. Proteomics, as an essential element of systems biology, allows all proteins and their post-translational modifications as present in a cell to be studied simultaneously. Enzyme kinetics, 3D protein structure, protein interaction with other proteins and with ligands or substrates are commonly addressed using purified proteins.
Facilities
The Laboratory of Biochemistry has available research apparatus and expertise necesary for:
- Fermentation
- Protein purification
- Spectrometers
- Fluorometers
- Advance microscopy
- Proteomics
We are, together with the laboratories of Biophysics, Organic Chemistry and Molecular Biology, host of the WUR MicroSpectroscopy Research Facility.
Our projects
If you want to know more about the individual projects and the people doing the work, visit our research page.