Stijn Agten

Assistant Professor

Dr Stijn Agten obtained his bachelor’s and master’s in Biomedical Engineering at the Technical University Eindhoven with a specialisation in Chemical Biology. Subsequently, he performed his PhD research at CARIM, where he focsused on the development of bioconjugation techniques and their application in cardiovascular research with a special focus on oxime ligation. After obtaining his PhD (cum laude), he was awarded with a CARIM talent fellowship and moved to the University of Sydney, School of Chemistry, where he focussed on the synthesis of direct thrombin inhibitors found in hematophagous organisms and their potential therapeutic applications.

In 2018, he returned to the Department of Biochemistry within CARIM and was granted a Kootstra talent fellowship. His research focusses on chemical protein synthesis of (post-translationally-modified) cardiovascular targets. This involves solid phase peptide synthesis, multiple peptide ligation methods and bioconjugate techniques for site specific labeling of proteins. Synthesised targets are subsequently evaluated in biological systems to gain knowledge on their function or to investigate their therapeutic potential. In 2019, Stijn was awarded with a Dr E Dekker grant from the Dutch Heart Foundation. 

Department of Biochemistry
Universiteitsingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht
PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht

Room number: 4.362
T: +31 (0)43 388 16 87

  • 2023
    • Yao, T. Y., Chen, H. L., Wang, R., Rivero, R., Wang, F. Y., Kessels, L., Agten, S. M., Hackeng, T. M., Wolfs, T. G. A. M., Fan, D. D., Baker, M. B., & Moroni, L. (2023). Thiol-ene conjugation of a VEGF peptide to electrospun scaffolds for potential applications in angiogenesis. Bioactive Materials, 20(1), 306-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.05.029
  • 2022
    • Leberzammer, J., Agten, S. M., Blanchet, X., Duan, R., Ippel, H., Megens, R. T. A., Schulz, C., Aslani, M., Duchene, J., Döring, Y., Jooss, N. J., Zhang, P., Brandl, R., Stark, K., Siess, W., Jurk, K., Heemskerk, J. W. M., Hackeng, T. M., Mayo, K. H., ... von Hundelshausen, P. (2022). Targeting platelet-derived CXCL12 impedes arterial thrombosis. Blood, 139(17), 2691-2705. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2020010140
    • Dolleman, S. C., Agten, S. M., Spronk, H. M. H., Hackeng, T. M., Bos, M. H. A., Versteeg, H. H., van Zonneveld, A. J., & de Boer, H. C. (2022). Thrombin in complex with dabigatran can still interact with PAR-1 via exosite-I and instigate loss of vascular integrity. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 20(4), 996-1007. https://doi.org/10.1111/jth.15642
    • Hrdinova, J., Fernández, D. I., Ercig, B., Tullemans, B. M. E., Suylen, D. P. L., Agten, S. M., Jurk, K., Hackeng, T. M., Vanhoorelbeke, K., Voorberg, J., Reutelingsperger, C. P. M., Wichapong, K., Heemskerk, J. W. M., & Nicolaes, G. A. F. (2022). Structure-Based Cyclic Glycoprotein Ibα-Derived Peptides Interfering with von Willebrand Factor-Binding, Affecting Platelet Aggregation under Shear. International journal of molecular sciences, 23(4), Article 2046. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23042046
  • 2021
    • van der Beelen, S. H. E., Agten, S. M., Suylen, D. P. L., Wichapong, K., Hrdinova, J., Mees, B. M. E., Spronk, H. M. H., & Hackeng, T. M. (2021). Letter: In response to a recent letter by Prior et al.Thrombosis Research, 207, 66-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.thromres.2021.06.017
    • Dowman, L. J., Agten, S., Ripoll-Rozada, J., Calisto, B., Pereira, P. J. B., & Payne, R. J. (2021). Synthesis and evaluation of peptidic thrombin inhibitors bearing acid-stable sulfotyrosine analogues. Chemical Communications, 57(83), 10923-10926. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1cc04742f
    • Ford, D. J., Duggan, N. M., Fry, S. E., Ripoll-Rozada, J., Agten, S. M., Liu, W., Corcilius, L., Hackeng, T. M., van Oerle, R., Spronk, H. M. H., Ashhurst, A. S., Mini Sasi, V., Kaczmarski, J. A., Jackson, C. J., Pereira, P. J. B., Passioura, T., Suga, H., & Payne, R. J. (2021). Potent Cyclic Peptide Inhibitors of FXIIa Discovered by mRNA Display with Genetic Code Reprogramming. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 64(11), 7853-7876. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00651
    • van der Beelen, S. H. E., Agten, S. M., Suylen, D. P. L., Wichapong, K., Hrdinova, J., Mees, B. M. E., Spronk, H. M. H., & Hackeng, T. M. (2021). Design and synthesis of a multivalent catch-and-release assay to measure circulating FXIa. Thrombosis Research, 200, 16-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.thromres.2021.01.002
    • Agten, S. M., Watson, E. E., Ripoll-Rozada, J., Dowman, L. J., Wu, M. C. L., Alwis, I., Jackson, S. P., Pereira, P. J. B., & Payne, R. J. (2021). Potent Trivalent Inhibitors of Thrombin through Hybridization of Salivary Sulfopeptides from Hematophagous Arthropods. Angewandte Chemie-International Edition, 60(10), 5348-5356. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202015127
    • Calisto, B., Ripoll-Rozada, J., Dowman, L. J., Franck, C., Agten, S., Parker, B. L., Carvalho Veloso, R., Vale, N., Gomes, P., de Sanctis, D., Payne, R. J., & Pereira, P. J. B. (2021). Sulfotyrosine-Mediated Recognition of Human Thrombin by a Tsetse Fly Anticoagulant Mimics Physiological Substrates. Cell Chemical Biology, 28(1), 26-33.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2020.10.002