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A/Prof. Filip Braet

Position
Deputy Director, Australian Key Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis

Contact
Email: f.braet@usyd.edu.au
Ph: + 61 2 9351 7619
Fax: + 61 2 9351 7682

Qualifications

Filip obtained a bachelor in Clinical Chemistry from the Higher Institute for Education/Bruges in 1989 and subsequently followed the bachelor and master studies of Biomedical Sciences at the Free University of Brussels. This study was finished in 1992 with the thesis Cultivation of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells: a model for hypolipidemic studies. Subsequently, Filip started to work for his Ph.D. thesis on the Structure and Dynamics of the Liver Sieve at the Laboratory for Cell Biology and Histology under the supervision of Prof. Dr. E. Wisse and obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences in May 1999 at the Free University of Brussels. From October 1999 onwards, he was appointed as a postdoctoral researcher of the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders and continued his work on the biology of liver fenestrae and the role of liver sinusoidal cells in colon carcinoma metastasis. In August 2003, he joined the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB1) at the University Ghent as supervisor of the microscopy core facility and partially continued his research activities.

Background

  • 16 August 2003 – 15 October 2004. Postdoctoral Scientist of the Fund for Scientific Research. Molecular Cell Biology Unit (Prof. Dr. F. Van Roy), Flemisch Institute for Biotechnology, University Ghent.
    1 October 1999 - 15 August 2003. Postdoctoral Scientist of the Fund for Scientific Research. Laboratory for Cell Biology and Histology (Prof. Dr. E. Wisse), Free University of Brussels.
  • 1 October 1996 – 30 September 1999. Academic Assistant. Laboratory for Cell Biology and Histology (Prof. Dr. E. Wisse), Free University of Brussels.
  • 1 October 1992 - 30 September 1996. Aspirant of the National Fund for Scientific Research. Laboratory for Cell Biology and Histology (Prof. Dr. E. Wisse), Free University of Brussels.

Research Interests

  • The (Hepatic) Endothelium: A Gateway for Traversing Macromolecules and Cancer Cells.
  • Probing Living Cells at Nanometre Resolution with the Atomic Force Microscope.
  • Correlative Microscopy, Cryo- and Electron Tomography.
  • Optical, Fluorescence and Laser Microscopy.
  • Live Cell Bioimaging, Fluorescent Probes and Immunocytochemistry.

Available projects for students

  • X-Ray Micro-Computed Imaging of Bioreactor Liver Tissue
  • Identifying Membrane-Related Biomolecular Signalling Pathways in Colorectal Cancer Cells

Selected Publications

  1. Braet F. How molecular microscopy revealed new insights in the dynamics of hepatic endothelial fenestrae in the past decade. Liver Int 2004:24;532-539.
  2. Timmers M, Vekemans K, Vermijlen D, Asosingh K, Kuppen PJK, Bouwens L, Wisse E, Braet F. Interactions between rat colon carcinoma cells and Kupffer cells during the onset of hepatic metastasis. Int J Cancer 2004:112;793-802.
  3. Vekemans K, Rosseel L, Wisse E, Braet F. Immuno-localization of Fas and FasL in rat hepatic endothelial cells: Influence of different fixation protocols. Micron 2004:35;303-306.
  4. Braet F, Wisse E. Imaging surface and submembranous structures in living cells with the atomic force microscope: notes and tricks. In: Braga PC, Ricci D, eds. Atomic Force Microscopy: Methods and Protocols in Biomedical Applications. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press Inc., 2004:201-216.
  5. Braet F, Bomans PHH, Wisse E, Frederik PM. The observation of intact hepatic endothelial cells by cryo-electron microscopy. J Microsc 2003:212;175-185.
  6. Braet F, Spector I, De Zanger R, Wisse E. A novel structure involved in the formation of liver endothelial cell fenestrae revealed using the actin inhibitor misakinolide. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1998:95;13635-13640.
  7. Braet F, De Zanger R, Baekeland M, Crabbé E, Van Der Smissen P, Wisse E. Structure and dynamics of the fenestrae- associated cytoskeleton in rat liver sinusoidal endothelial cells. Hepatology 1995:21;180-189.
  8. Braet F, De Zanger R, Sasaoki T, Baekeland M, Janssens P, Smedsrød B, Wisse E. Assessment of a method of isolation, purification and cultivation of rat liver sinusoidal endothelial cells. Lab Invest 1994:70;944-952. Download pdf