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Piet Herdewijn

Piet Herdewijn

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Chemistry
Belgium
2025
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Biology and Biochemistry
Belgium
2023

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
89
Citations
32026
World Ranking
2144
National Ranking
25

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
89
Citations
32078
World Ranking
2531
National Ranking
39

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2025 - Research.com Chemistry in Belgium Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Belgium Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Chemistry in Belgium Leader Award

Overview

Piet Herdewijn is affiliated with KU Leuven in Belgium and has contributed extensively to the fields of biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, with significant work also intersecting medicine. Their research portfolio includes over a hundred publications, reflecting a sustained focus on molecular biology and related subfields such as infectious diseases, organic chemistry, epidemiology, and virology.

Their main topics of study encompass:

  • DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry
  • HIV/AIDS drug development and treatment
  • Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques
  • RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
  • HIV Research and Treatment
  • Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • Biochemical and Molecular Research

Frequently publishing in scientific venues, Herdewijn has multiple articles in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and the journal Nucleic Acids Research. Other common publication venues include UNC Libraries, ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, and the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Several coauthors have frequently collaborated with Herdewijn, including Elisabetta Groaz, Steven De Jonghe, Mikhail Abramov, Eveline Lescrinier, and Dominique Schols.

Selected recent papers illustrate the range of Herdewijn's research outputs:

  • Noncanonical DNA polymerization by aminoadenine-based siphoviruses, 2021, Science
  • A two-residue nascent-strand steric gate controls synthesis of 2'-O-methyl- and 2'-O-(2-methoxyethyl)-RNA, 2022, Nature Chemistry
  • Chimeric siRNAs with chemically modified pentofuranose and hexopyranose nucleotides: altritol-nucleotide (ANA) containing GalNAc-siRNA conjugates: in vitro and in vivo RNAi activity and resistance to 5'-exonuclease, 2020, Nucleic Acids Research
  • Functional Comparison of Laboratory-Evolved XNA Polymerases for Synthetic Biology, 2021, ACS Synthetic Biology
  • An Overview of Marketed Nucleoside and Nucleotide Analogs, 2022, Current Protocols

Best Publications

  • Rapid and automated tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay for the detection of anti-HIV compounds

    Rudi Pauwels;Jan Balzarini;Masanori Baba;Robert Snoeck

  • Synthetic genetic polymers capable of heredity and evolution

    Vitor B. Pinheiro;Alexander I. Taylor;Christopher Cozens;Mikhail Abramov

  • Both 2′,3′-dideoxythymidine and its 2′,3′-unsaturated derivative (2′,3′-dideoxythymidinene) are potent and selective inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus replication in vitro

    Masanori Baba;Rudi Pauwels;Piet Herdewijn;Erik De Clercq

  • Differential patterns of intracellular metabolism of 2',3'-didehydro-2',3'-dideoxythymidine and 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine, two potent anti-human immunodeficiency virus compounds.

    J Balzarini;P Herdewijn;E De Clercq

  • 3'-substituted 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside analogues as potential anti-HIV (HTLV-III/LAV) agents.

    P Herdewijn;J Balzarini;E De Clercq;R Pauwels

  • A large-scale chemical modification screen identifies design rules to generate siRNAs with high activity, high stability and low toxicity

    Jesper B. Bramsen;Maria B. Laursen;Anne F. Nielsen;Thomas B. Hansen

  • Modifications in Lignin and Accumulation of Phenolic Glucosides in Poplar Xylem upon Down-regulation of Caffeoyl-Coenzyme A O-Methyltransferase, an Enzyme Involved in Lignin Biosynthesis

    Hugo Meyermans;Kris Morreel;Catherine Lapierre;Brigitte Pollet

  • The anti-HTLV-III (anti-HIV) and cytotoxic activity of 2',3'-didehydro-2',3'-dideoxyribonucleosides: a comparison with their parental 2',3'-dideoxyribonucleosides.

    J Balzarini;G J Kang;M Dalal;P Herdewijn

  • Catalysts from synthetic genetic polymers

    Alexander I. Taylor;Vitor B. Pinheiro;Vitor B. Pinheiro;Matthew J. Smola;Alexey S. Morgunov

  • Intracellular metabolism and mechanism of anti-retrovirus action of 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine, a potent anti-human immunodeficiency virus compound.

    J. Balzarini;Zhang Hao;P. Herdewijn;D. G. Johns

  • Marked in vivo antiretrovirus activity of 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine, a selective anti-human immunodeficiency virus agent.

    J Balzarini;L Naesens;P Herdewijn;I Rosenberg

  • Sensitive and rapid assay on MT-4 cells for detection of antiviral compounds against the AIDS virus.

    Rudi Pauwels;Erik De Clercq;Jan Desmyter;Jan Balzarini

  • The in vitro and in vivo anti-retrovirus activity, and intracellular metabolism of 3′-azido-2′,3′-dideoxythymidine and 2′,3′-dideoxycytidine are highly dependent on the cell species

    Jan Balzarini;Rudi Pauwels;Masanori Baba;Piet Herdewijn

  • Anti-retrovirus activity of 3′-fluoro- and 3′-azido-substituted pyrimidine 2′,3′-dideoxynucleoside analogues

    Jan Balzarini;Masanori Baba;Rudi Pauwels;Piet Herdewijn

  • Mutations in the chikungunya virus non-structural proteins cause resistance to favipiravir (T-705), a broad-spectrum antiviral

    Leen Delang;Nidya Segura Guerrero;Ali Tas;Gilles Quérat

  • Potent and selective anti-HTLV-III/LAV activity of 2',3'-dideoxycytidinene, the 2',3'-unsaturated derivative of 2',3'-dideoxycytidine.

    Jan Balzarini;Rudi Pauwels;Piet Herdewijn;Erik De Clercq

  • Anticancer kinase inhibitors impair intracellular viral trafficking and exert broad-spectrum antiviral effects

    Elena Bekerman;Gregory Neveu;Ana Shulla;Jennifer Brannan

  • α-l-ribo-Configured Locked Nucleic Acid (α-L-LNA): Synthesis and Properties

    Mads D. Sørensen;Lisbet Kvaernø;Torsten Bryld;Anders E. Hakansson

  • Ribavirin antagonizes inhibitory effects of pyrimidine 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides but enhances inhibitory effects of purine 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides on replication of human immunodeficiency virus in vitro.

    M Baba;R Pauwels;J Balzarini;P Herdewijn

  • Chemical Evolution of a Bacterium’s Genome

    Philippe Marlière;Julien Patrouix;Volker Döring;Piet Herdewijn

  • Strategies in the Design of Antiviral Drugs

    Erik De Clercq;Piet Herdewijn

Frequent Co-Authors

Erik De Clercq
Erik De Clercq Rega Institute for Medical Research
Jan Balzarini
Jan Balzarini KU Leuven
Christophe Pannecouque
Christophe Pannecouque Rega Institute for Medical Research
Johan Neyts
Johan Neyts Rega Institute for Medical Research
Robert Snoeck
Robert Snoeck KU Leuven
Denis De Keukeleire
Denis De Keukeleire Ghent University
Jozef Anné
Jozef Anné KU Leuven

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