D.L.A.H. Hornikx (Daniël)

Daniël finished his bachelor's in Biology and masters in Medical Biology at the Radboud University. He specialised in molecular biology, genetics and human biology. With this background, he performed his research in the fields of hepatology and gastroenterology, metabolic diseases, and (systemic) inflammatory diseases.

Research project
Within the gastrointestinal tract, the epithelial cells are protected by a mucus gel layer. This layer is made out of mucins, which are heavily glycosylated. In healthy conditions, this mucus layer is thick and strong. In cancer tissue, this mucus layer is much thicker, but made out of a different kind of mucus. In inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) the mucus layer has virtually disappeared and thus can no longer protect the epithelial cells.

In his project, he study the mechanisms and regulation of mucus gel layer formation. With colonic cells, the effect of inflammation and cancer progression is studied on the proteins involved in glycosylation and their impact on the mucus gel layer. Next to that, Daniël will study the impact of gut microbiota on the production and degradation of mucins.

• Unraveling the biosynthetic rules of protein glycosylation