Rienk Eelkema | Lightnews

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 4d

Bravo 💪🏾

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 9d

Recent contributions from our group on this topic:
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC....
doi.org/10.1021/acsa....
doi.org/10.31635/ccs....

Organochloride mediated prodrug activation induced by ionizing radiation

Boronic acid and ester-caged prodrugs have been widely investigated in cellular-generated hydrogen peroxide triggered release. Although it is well-known that ionizing radiation generates hydrogen pero...

doi.org

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 9d

Many thanks to prof. Zhibo Liu (Peking University), a giant in this field, for useful input during the review process. I’m also very grateful to the journal and its editor @stephengdavey.bsky.social for an involved, constructive and rewarding review and editing process.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 9d

We thought it would be useful to review the developments in this field and link these to the underlying radiation chemistry.
For us, this was a very insightful piece to research and write, it taught us a lot about the limits and opportunities in the field.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 9d

Recent years have seen considerable advances in combined radio-chemotherapy, where therapeutic dose radiation is used to locally release or activate chemotherapeutics. This mostly goes via the radiolysis of water, where the formed reactive species react with polymer nanocarriers or caged drugs.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 9d

Now out in @natrevchem.nature.com: The role of ionizing radiation-initiated reactions in targeted activation of chemotherapeutics

by Dr. Juncheng Liu

Another great collaboration with prof. Antonia Denkova (Department of Radiation Science and Technology).

Nature Reviews Chemistry @natrevchem.nature.com · 10d

The role of ionizing radiation-initiated reactions in targeted activation of chemotherapeutics

Nature Reviews Chemistry, Published online: 15 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41570-025-00779-3This Review explores how ionizing radiation triggers drug release via water radiolysis, detailing reactive species, drug activation mechanisms and strategies for designing radiation-sensitive prodrugs and nanocarriers to enhance chemoradiation therapy with reduced systemic toxicity.

bit.ly

Shuntaro Amano 天野俊太郎 @shuntaroamano.bsky.social · 16d

Our new paper "A Versatile Strategy for Light-Driven Active Transport of Ions" is now online in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social!

shorturl.at/jr1wY

We used an azobenzene photoswitch to transport ions against their concentration gradients from one aqueous compartment to the other. This was achieved

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 22d

These findings could have exciting implications for low dose-rate cancer treatments, including radionuclide therapy and brachytherapy.
Wonderful work from Bing Xu and Juncheng Liu, and a great collaboration with prof. Antonia Denkova
Open Access publication here: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Low-dose-rate ionizing radiation increases singlet oxygen production by photosensitizers

Xu et al. reveal that ionizing radiation drives singlet oxygen generation from Ce6 through superoxide anions rather than Cerenkov light, with low dose rates favoring the process by reducing radical re...

www.cell.com

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 22d

The ionized photosensitizer and superoxide then react to form singlet oxygen, a key cytotoxic species in PDT. We hypothesize that low dose-rate radiation leads to more spatially dispersed reactive oxygen species from water radiolysis, reducing recombination and boosting superoxide formation.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 22d

Bing’s work suggests a compelling mechanism: instead of generating triplets (as in classic PDT), ionizing radiation ionizes the photosensitizer and simultaneously produces superoxide radicals from dissolved oxygen.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 22d

Ionizing radiation, on the other hand, reaches deep into the body, as used in radiotherapy but also opening the door to deep-tissue photodynamic-like effects.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 22d

So, what’s going on here? In ordinary PDT, light-induced excitation of a photosensitizer such as Chlorin e6 will lead to singlet oxygen formation via the photosensitizer triplet state. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is powerful, but limited by how poorly light penetrates tissue.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 22d

You probably know Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), but how about Radiodynamic Therapy?
Now out in Cell Reports Physical Science, Bing Xu shows how lowering the radiation dose rate on solutions of the photosensitizer Chlorin e6 leads to increased production of highly cytotoxic singlet oxygen.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 27d

Published a paper warning that something doesn't work as commonly accepted in SciRep some years ago, that journal has done some dubious things in the mean time though. I generally like the approach and integrity of CellRepPhysSci, I could imagine they might be up for something like this

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 28d

Want to come to Maine? I wanted to contact your journal but GRC doesn't allow me to. Would be great to have you there

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 28d

🔬 Registration Now Open!
GRC Systems Chemistry 2026
“Bridging Molecular Complexity and Multiscale Systems Integration”
📅 June 21 – 26, 2026
📍 Portland, Maine (USA)
www.grc.org/systems-chem...
Feel free to share this announcement with anyone who may be interested.
#GRC @systemschem-grc.bsky.social

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 28d

The project was led by Dr. Benjamin Klemm, in close collaboration with Dr. Margherita Tavasso and Prof. Pouyan Boukany @pboukany.bsky.social. Funding from the @erc.europa.eu , Open Access publication.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 28d

The kinetics of drug release depend heavily on the type of nucleophilic trigger: thiols are fast, amines are much slower (minutes to days). Application of a gefinitib construct to a lung cancer cell model (A549) showed ~100% wound-closure inhibition upon signal activation.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 28d

These prodrugs can be activated by biologically relevant nucleophiles enabling precisely controlled drug release.
We went on to embed anti-cancer and antibiotic prodrugs into hydrogel scaffolds, testing them in aqueous and cellular environments.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 28d

Using a versatile azido-phenyl allyl bromide scaffold, we generated prodrugs from a range of amine-containing drug candidates. It’s quite straightforward to make these things, basically just mix the allylbromide and the drug, wait, and isolate by filtration.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · 28d

🚀 Publication Alert!

In this work, we introduce a new strategy for developing tertiary amine–based prodrugs with dual functionality:
1️⃣ Signal-triggered drug activation
2️⃣ Covalent incorporation into polymer materials via a built-in clickable azido group

🔗 pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Nucleophile-triggered prodrug release from polymer hydrogels

We present a new method to obtain tertiary amine-based prodrugs with dual functionality, enabling (i) signal-triggered drug activation and (ii) covalent incorporation in polymer materials through a cl...

pubs.rsc.org

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · Nov 23

ja daar was ik al bang voor. Kreeg ook een vrij nikserig antwoord van Nexus toen ik hiernaar vroeg, gaf weinig vertrouwen dat ze hem kritisch zouden bevragen. Gemiste kans, zwakke journalistiek.

Rienk Eelkema @rienkeelkema.bsky.social · Nov 6

Congratulations Job, very much deserved!

Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · Nov 6

If said women work for your competitors, I guess maybe

Esther Ouwehand @estherouwehand.bsky.social · Nov 6

In tijden van radicaal-rechtse stormen, moet je niet meewaaien.

Onze rechtsstaat zal voluit moeten worden verdedigd en versterkt, in belang van mens en dier.

Onze brief aan verkenner Wouter Koolmees 👇

Thomas M. Hermans @hermanslab.bsky.social · Oct 23

Want to learn chemical kinetics? Watch my online course (master level): youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMOBJket5g1zsNs-a8hlJ7ImVcWE180KR&si=FhqmABYzb2MDS-p3

Chemical kinetics course - YouTube

Chemical kinetics course Class 1: Historical introduction Class 2: 0-2nd order, equilibrium (analytical) Class 3: Reactions in series/parallel, Michaelis-Men...

youtube.com

Lisa Westerveld 🌱 @lisawesterveld.bsky.social · Oct 20

Nou nee, dat mag niet.

Een school moet een veilige plek zijn voor álle leerlingen. Dat staat ook in de wet. Het afwijzen van homoseksuele relaties geeft de boodschap dat iemand niet zichzelf mag zijn.

Dat mag niet én is ronduit schadelijk.

nos.nl/nieuwsuur/co...