Welcome to SBB, the Structural Biology Brussels laboratory

The Structural Biology Brussels Lab, headed by Jan Steyaert was founded by Lode Wyns in the seventies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and is part of one of  the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology departments. Our dynamic and modern university is centrally situated in Brussels, the capital of Flanders, Belgium and Europe.

 The understanding of the function of a protein, from its structure to its dynamics, remains the central theme of the lab. Our multidisciplinary team of about 40 researchers is housed in new laboratory facilities and combines extensive expertise in biophysics and molecular biology. We master genetic engineering, protein purification, enzymology, calorimetry, crystallography, surface plasmon resonance, atomic force microscopy and now also NMR.

 Major research interests include Biomedical targets, Structural enzymology, Bacterial adhesion, Toxin-antitoxin systems and Biomolecular NMR. Translational research is intrinsic to our programs, with possible applications in medicine.

The discovery of heavy chain camelid antibodies has been one of the major hallmarks of our department. Together with the team, led by Dr. S. Muyldermans, we analyzed the subject from the level of gene organisation, over immunochemistry and antibody structure, going to diverse biotechnological applications. The latter has resulted in a recently founded spin-off company named Ablynx.