Overview of the Laboratory
The laboratory for Protein Biochemistry & Biomolecular Engineering has introduced in Belgium the cutting edge technologies for protein and peptide primary structure analysis. Sequence analysis on submicrogram amounts of material was applied ever since 1982.
High precision mass spectrometric analysis of large biomolecules using electrospray ionization and laser desorption mass spectrometry have recently widened the scope of application in the field allowing detection of presumed but so far unproven interactions between proteins and small sized ligands. The laboratory is equiped with the most recent state-of-the-art equipment for sequence analysis of proteins and peptides, for high precision mass analysis of biomolecules and for X-ray crystallographic analysis. The laboratory has also the necessary modern equipment for purification of proteins and peptides, both at preparative and analytical scale.
The main field of research concerns redoxproteins involved in energy-generating prokaryotic metabolic systems such as aerobic respiration, photosynthesis, nitrate/nitrite and sulphate reduction.
Research in L-PRoBE is supported by :
L-ProBE in space
Article in EOS, June 2009
The Mass spectrometry and Proteomics unit participates in a ESA-PRODEX programme called YING (Yeast in No Gravity). The behavior of yeast cells in no gravity condition, specifically invasive growth and biofilm formation will be followed. The consortium, coordinated by Dr Ronnie Willaert (VUB) with partners at KULeuven, VIB and Chalmers University (Sweden) will send an experiment to ISS with a Soyouz flight scheduled in September 2009. It was a honor to get informed that during the experiment, Frank De Winne will be one of the astronauts at ISS conducting the experiments.