Personal profile
Research interests
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major global health threat and kills around 300,000 peope each year. Still, there is no effective vaccine available.
After my PhD on HIV-1 vaccines, I pivoted my research line towards HCV. In 2022, together with collegues from Scripps Research Institute, we solved the structure of the HCV E1E2 spike. Now, we are using this structure to inform the design of novel HCV antigens. I also employ nanoparticle and mRNA strategies to further improve the immunogenicity of these candidates.
My team has developed a series of first and second generation stabilzied E1E2 antigens, which we have used to study the binding of HCV bispecific antibodies and to study human-induced HCV neutralizing antibodies.
We are currently using these antigens to decipher the humoral response in HCV-infected individuals and develop a clinically relevant HCV vaccine. For this we will employ mRNA and nanoparticle technology and we have started to pivot towards AI-based vaccine design.
Specialisation
My specialization lies in the use of computational design of envelope glycoproteins. This includes structure-based design and recently also AI-based approaches. Furthermore, throughout my PhD and postdoctoral research, I have used nanoparticles to develop experimental vaccines against HIV-1 and HCV.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Structure of the hepatitis C virus E1E2 glycoprotein complex
Torrents de la Peña, A., Sliepen, K., Eshun-Wilson, L., Newby, M. L., Allen, J. D., Zon, I., Koekkoek, S., Chumbe, A., Crispin, M., Schinkel, J., Lander, G. C., Sanders, R. W. & Ward, A. B., 21 Oct 2022, In: Science. 378, 6617, p. 263-269 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile45 Downloads (Pure) -
Induction of cross-neutralizing antibodies by a permuted hepatitis C virus glycoprotein nanoparticle vaccine candidate
Sliepen, K., Radić, L., Capella-Pujol, J., Watanabe, Y., Zon, I., Chumbe, A., Lee, W.-H., de Gast, M., Koopsen, J., Koekkoek, S., del Moral-Sánchez, I., Brouwer, P. J. M., Ravichandran, R., Ozorowski, G., King, N. P., Ward, A. B., van Gils, M. J., Crispin, M., Schinkel, J. & Sanders, R. W., 1 Dec 2022, In: Nature communications. 13, 1, 7271.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile24 Downloads (Pure) -
Bispecific antibodies against the hepatitis C virus E1E2 envelope glycoprotein
Radić, L., Offersgaard, A., Kadavá, T., Zon, I., Capella-Pujol, J., Mulder, F., Koekkoek, S., Spek, V., Chumbe, A., Bukh, J., van Gils, M. J., Sanders, R. W., Yin, V. C., Heck, A. J. R., Gottwein, J. M., Sliepen, K. & Schinkel, J., 15 Apr 2025, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 122, 15, e2420402122.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile40 Downloads (Pure) -
Signatures of VH 1-69-derived hepatitis C virus neutralizing antibody precursors defined by binding to envelope glycoproteins
Capella-Pujol, J., de Gast, M., Radić, L., Zon, I., Chumbe, A., Koekkoek, S., Olijhoek, W., Schinkel, J., van Gils, M. J., Sanders, R. W. & Sliepen, K., 1 Dec 2023, In: Nature communications. 14, 1, 4036.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile26 Downloads (Pure) -
Structure and immunogenicity of a stabilized HIV-1 envelope trimer based on a group-M consensus sequence
Sliepen, K., Han, B. W., Bontjer, I., Mooij, P., Garces, F., Behrens, A.-J., Rantalainen, K., Kumar, S., Sarkar, A., Brouwer, P. J. M., Hua, Y., Tolazzi, M., Schermer, E., Torres, J. L., Ozorowski, G., van der Woude, P., de la Peña, A. T., van Breemen, M. J., Camacho-Sánchez, J. M. & Burger, J. A. & 15 others, , 2019, In: Nature communications. 10, 1, 2355.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile23 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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BG505 SOSIP-I53-50NP
Brouwer, P. J. M. (Contributor), Antanasijevic, A. (Contributor), Berndsen, Z. (Contributor), Yasmeen, A. (Contributor), Fiala, B. (Contributor), Bijl, T. P. L. (Contributor), Bontjer, I. (Contributor), Bale, J. B. (Contributor), Sheffler, W. (Contributor), Allen, J. D. (Contributor), Schorcht, A. (Contributor), Burger, J. A. (Contributor), Camacho, M. (Contributor), Ellis, D. (Contributor), Cottrell, C. A. (Contributor), Behrens, A.-J. (Contributor), Catalano, M. (Contributor), del Moral-Sánchez, I. (Contributor), Ketas, T. J. (Contributor), LaBranche, C. (Contributor), van Gils, M. J. (Contributor), Sliepen, K. (Contributor), Stewart, L. J. (Contributor), Crispin, M. (Contributor), Montefiori, D. C. (Contributor), Baker, D. (Contributor), Moore, J. P. (Contributor), Klasse, P. J. (Contributor), Ward, A. B. (Contributor), King, N. P. (Contributor) & Sanders, R. W. (Contributor), Protein Data Bank (PDB), 19 Jun 2019
DOI: 10.2210/pdb6P6F/pdb, https://www.wwpdb.org/pdb?id=pdb_00006p6f
Dataset