Welcome to the website of the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology

Department Director: Prof. Dr. Nico Callewaert

For 2018, CMB recruits candidate PhD students for the several projects in the context of the FWO competition for PhD fellowships, more info via this link

Helena Biosciences to develop automated blood test for chronic liver disease based on VIB and Ghent University research - 16 May 2017
Helena Biosciences announced today that it is commercialising a new blood test for Chronic Liver Disease (CLD) in cooperation with the Ghent University branch of VIB – the life sciences research institute of Flanders, Belgium. The Glyco Liver Profile will provide healthcare professionals with a comprehensive tool to diagnose and monitor patients with hepatic inflammation, fibrosis and cirrhosis, and identify cirrhosis patients at low and high risk of developing HCC within the years following the test.
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Scientists isolate new antibodies to fight human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - 13 February 2017
Researchers from VIB, UGent, the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and several collaborators developed a new antiviral strategy to fight human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children. The approach hinges on the use of single-domain antibodies, also known as Nanobodies®, which target and neutralize a vital protein in the virus, rendering it unable to enter lung cells. The research, published in the leading scientific journal Nature Communications, elucidates how these Nanobodies® interact with and neutralize the virus and demonstrates their ability to successfully protect mice from RSV infection and related inflammation.
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Diverse VIB team investigates the possibilities of plant proteins - 11 February 2017
Although both plants and animals are made up of cells, plants are generally unable to relocate, and thus can’t migrate around freely like animals can. These constraints lead them to grow through cell division in three directions – forward, sideways or upwards – with proteins playing a role in giving cells the “identities” that eventually lead to wood and other plant tissues. A multidisciplinary group of scientists from the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology and the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology recently collaborated on fundamental research that explores how the processes of plant root growth and patterning are affected by proteins – specifically, those that interact with a protein called ACR4.
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Talking protein tags, novel ideas and tech innovation - 5 November 2016
As one of our Expert Scientists, Sven Eyckerman knows all about the ‘tech’ in ‘biotechnology’.
Together with his VIB-Ghent University research team, he has been working on several innovative biotechnologies. A recent example is the generic Virotrap platform, as seen in VIBnews June. Shortly after, Sven and his team came up with yet another pioneering technique. They developed a set of universal protein tags that go by the acronym of ‘PQS’ and enable protein quantification via targeted proteomic techniques. Sven talks you through the how and why of this new tool and tech innovation in general.
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Immunovaccine Announces Positive Phase 1 Topline Data for DepoVax™-based Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine Candidate - 13 October 2016
Immunovaccine Inc. (“Immunovaccine” or the “Company”) (TSX: IMV; OTCQX: IMMVF), a clinical stage vaccine and immunotherapy company, today announced positive topline results from its Phase 1 trial evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of DPX-RSV, its DepoVax™-based, small B cell epitope peptide vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The results six months or more after vaccination confirmed earlier-reported interim data on the ability of DepoVax™- formulated antigens to generate a relevant, durable immune response.
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Recent CMB Articles

• An extra dimension in protein tagging by quantifying universal proteotypic peptides using targeted proteomics.
• sfinx: an R package for the elimination of false positives from affinity purification-mass spectrometry datasets.
• Expanding the Interactome of TES by Exploiting TES Modules with Different Subcellular Localizations.
• Germline Gain-of-Function MYD88 Mutation in a Child with Severe Arthritis.
• A safe and highly efficient tumor-targeted type I interferon immunotherapy depends on the tumor microenvironment.
• Chronic Kidney Disease Circulating Calciprotein Particles and Extracellular Vesicles Promote Vascular Calcification: A Role for GRP (Gla-Rich Protein).
• Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of two nanobodies that inhibit thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor activation and activated thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor activity.
• CEP5 and XIP1/CEPR1 regulate lateral root initiation in Arabidopsis.
• The growing story of (ARABIDOPSIS) CRINKLY 4.
• Synthetic biology for production of natural and new-to-nature terpenoids in photosynthetic organisms.