Profile photo Wouter de Laat

Wouter de Laat

Full Professor

Strategic program(s):

Biography

Wouter de Laat studied biology at the Utrecht University. During his PhD (1998) at the Erasmus University Rotterdam (Prof. Jan Hoeijmakers) he investigated the molecular mechanism of nucleotide excision repair. He identified one of the nucleases and characterized the interplay between repair factors at the site of the lesion. As a postdoc, he joined the group of Prof. Frank Grosveld to work on beta-globin gene activation. In 2000 he received a career grant (VIDI) to work on long-range gene activation. His group used 3C technology, and later developed 4C technology, to demonstrate chromatin loops between genes and enhancers and to uncover long-range DNA contacts within and between chromosomes.
In 2008 he received an ERC Young Investigator Grant. In September 2008 de Laat moved his group to the Hubrecht Institute, where he continued his work on genome structure and function. In January 2009 he was appointed professor in Biomedical Genomics at the University Medical Center Utrecht. He received a prestigious VICI career grant in 2012.

Recent publications

Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded-Targeted Locus Capture Ellen Stelloo, Ruud W J Meijers, Joost F Swennenhuis, Amin Allahyar, Karima Hajo, Mario Cangiano, Wendy W J de Leng, Sjoerd van Helvert, Joni Van der Meulen, David Creytens, Léon C van Kempen, Anne-Marie Cleton-Jansen, Judith V M G Bovee, Wouter de Laat, Erik Splinter, Harma Feitsma
Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, 2023, vol. 25, p.758-770
Elevated enhancer-oncogene contacts and higher oncogene expression levels by recurrent CTCF inactivating mutations in acute T cell leukemia Willem K Smits, Carlo Vermeulen, Rico Hagelaar, Shunsuke Kimura, Eric M Vroegindeweij, Jessica G C A M Buijs-Gladdines, Ellen van de Geer, Marjon J A M Verstegen, Erik Splinter, Simon V van Reijmersdal, Arjan Buijs, Niels Galjart, Winfried van Eyndhoven, Max van Min, Roland Kuiper, Patrick Kemmeren, Charles G Mullighan, Wouter de Laat, Jules P P Meijerink
Cell Reports, 2023, vol. 42
CAF-1 deposits newly synthesized histones during DNA replication using distinct mechanisms on the leading and lagging strands Clément Rouillon, Bruna V. Eckhardt, Leonie Kollenstart, Fabian Gruss, Alexander E.E. Verkennis, Inge Rondeel, Peter H.L. Krijger, Giulia Ricci, Alva Biran, Theo van Laar, Charlotte M. Delvaux de Fenffe, Georgiana Luppens, Pascal Albanese, Koichi Sato, Richard A. Scheltema, Wouter de Laat, Puck Knipscheer, Nynke H. Dekker, Anja Groth, Francesca Mattiroli
Nucleic acids research, 2023, vol. 51, p.3770-3792
A cis-regulatory element regulates ERAP2 expression through autoimmune disease risk SNPs Wouter J Venema, Sanne Hiddingh, Jorg van Loosdregt, John Bowes, Brunilda Balliu, Joke H de Boer, Jeannette Ossewaarde-van Norel, Susan D Thompson, Carl D Langefeld, Aafke de Ligt, Lars T van der Veken, Peter H L Krijger, Wouter de Laat, Jonas J W Kuiper
Cell genomics, 2023, vol. 4
Building regulatory landscapes reveals that an enhancer can recruit cohesin to create contact domains, engage CTCF sites and activate distant genes Niels J. Rinzema, Konstantinos Sofiadis, Sjoerd J.D. Tjalsma, Marjon J.A.M. Verstegen, Yuva Oz, Christian Valdes-Quezada, Anna Karina Felder, Teodora Filipovska, Stefan van der Elst, Zaria de Andrade dos Ramos, Ruiqi Han, Peter H.L. Krijger, Wouter de Laat
Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, 2022, vol. 29, p.563-574
Role of the cellular factor CTCF in the regulation of bovine leukemia virus latency and three-dimensional chromatin organization Maxime Bellefroid, Anthony Rodari, Mathilde Galais, Peter H.L. Krijger, Sjoerd J.D. Tjalsma, Lorena Nestola, Estelle Plant, Erica S.M. Vos, Sara Cristinelli, Benoit Van Driessche, Caroline Vanhulle, Amina Ait-Ammar, Arsène Burny, Angela Ciuffi, Wouter De Laat, Carine Van Lint
Nucleic acids research, 2022, vol. 50, p.3190-3202