by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Asthma is a major health problem affecting millions of people globally. This disease is characterised by acute or chronic lung inflammation, epithelial cell activation and tissue remodelling/fibrosis. Immune cells trigger changes in the lung epithelium leading to loss...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Even when viral loads are suppressed by antiretroviral therapy in an infected individual, a small proportion of circulating CD4+ T cells harbour transcriptionally silent Human Immunodeficiency Virus type-1. This latent reservoir can be ‘re-awoken’ by inflammatory...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Head and neck cancers (HNC) are oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) that develop in fields premalignant mucosa, histologically diagnosed as oral epithelial dysplasia (OED). Chronic infection is associated with OED and OSCC but the mechanisms driving these...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
The class A scavenger receptors SR-A and MARCO are macrophage-restricted phagocytic receptors. They were discovered by their ability to take up oxidised lipids/lipoproteins (Ox-LDL) and develop lipid-laden foam cells in atherosclerotic plaques. However, they are also...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Strikingly 9/10 SLE cases are women, yet little is understood as to why. Hormonal and environmental factors are believed to be partly responsible, and while there is...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Pathogen-infections lead to immediate upregulation of host-defence-genes, also called interferon-stimulated-genes (ISG). Many pathogens, including influenza-A-virus (IAV) counteract host ISG-expression. IAV-infection de-regulates transcription-termination so that...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Background: Human globin genes, coding for hemoglobin, are differentially activated in the embryonic, fetal and adult stages of hematopoiesis. Mutations in adult globin genes result in hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell anemia. Reactivating fetal hemoglobin (HbF)...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Scientific basis: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD), a major cause of renal failure, cardiovascular disease, and mortality, affects ~1/3rd of diabetes patients. Mitochondria are organelles which produce energy in the form of ATP and contain their own genome known as...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Cortical interneurons comprise over 20 types of cells with distinct morphologies and functions. Correct development of this group of neurons is essential for normal neural and cognitive functions. How different types of interneurons emerge from common progenitor...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Most cancer patients die from metastasis, the dissemination of the primary tumour after cancer cells acquired the ability to migrate. Mesenchymal cancer cell migration is driven by actin filament nucleation at the leading edge of cells, the lamellipodium. They are...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
Our group is interested in the understanding the signalling pathways that control the migration of cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) into tumour tissues and the subsequent killing of their target cells. We do this by a combination of in vitro biochemistry and cell biology...
by Samuel White | 11th September 2023
This project aims to test whether candidate ageing-related factors affect muscle homeostasis and regeneration in vivo (using a zebrafish model) and in vitro (using a human primary cell culture model). It is becoming clear that although ageing is genetically programmed...