Monday 31 March 2014

Katja Fink - Dengue Virus and Immune Cell Activation

Monday 14th April, Katja Fink from the Singapore Immunology Network will be visiting and presenting some of her data at 4pm In the Research Beehive (room 2.22), Newcastle University.

Katja’s talk is entitled:

 

"Skin-associated dengue infection and immune cell activation”  and is she is being hosted by Muzz Haniffa, so please contact her if you wish to speak with Katja whilst she is at Newcastle.

 

Dengue virus causes an estimated 100 million clinically apparent infections each year and has become the most important mosquito-borne viral infection in the
world. Target cells of the virus include dendritic cells (DCs), monocytes andmacrophages. The human skin harbors distinct types of DCs, which include epidermal
Langerhans cells (LCs) and three different subsets of dermal DCs: CD14+, CD11c+and CD141+ dermal DCs (DDCs), each with a specific functional role. We
infected healthy human skin obtained during plastic surgery ex vivo todefine the cells targeted during a natural infection. Our results revealed that CD14+ and CD11c+
DDCs subsets were infected efficiently, resulting in the high induction of IFN-beta andSTAT1 as measured by nanostring. Interestingly, dengue infection seemed to have an
inhibitory role on DC function. The potential relevance of our findings fordengue pathogenesis will be discussed.

 

Graham Ogg, Type 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells and Skin Inflammation

Tuesday 8th April, Graham Ogg, from the MRC Humman Immunology Unit, in the Weatherall Institute at the University of Oxford, will be speaking at 5pm in room A009 in the Ellison Building, at Northumbria University

(Directions: up Northumberland Road past the City Hall, 100 metres, Ellison Building on the right has the revolving door; A009 is the first lecture theatre on the right).

Graham will be speaking on:

 

"Type 2 innate lymphoid cells and skin inflammation" and is being hosted by Stephen Todryk, so please contact him if you wish to speak with Graham whilst he is at Northumbria.

 

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Sherry Pagoto seminar - 31st March 2014

 
Sherry Pagoto, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School
 
 
How Technology May Revolutionize Health Behavior Change
 
 
Mobile technology and social media are new tools that will enhance our ability to help people lose weight and develop healthy lifestyles.  In addition to increasing the potency of behavioral interventions these tools may help us reduce costs and give us the capacity to reach more people.  Sherry will give examples of her research using these tools and discuss both the potential and challenges.
 
Date:    31st March 2014
Venue:   Baddiley Clark Seminar Room
Time:    12.45-2.00
 
 
 

Monday 24 March 2014

Tissue Engineering Special: Wednesday 26th March 2014


 

 

 

Institute Research Student Seminars

Speakers:  Sylvia Muller, PhD student (Haematology), Simon Partridge, PhD student (Musculoskeletal) and Shane Walsh, PhD student (Musculoskeletal)

 

Venue: Seminar room L2.3, 2nd floor, Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time:  Wednesday 26 March 2014 at 1.00pm

 

Sylvia Muller will present:

 

"A study of Mesenchymal stem cells for arthritis repair".

 

CD271 is thought to be a marker of precursor Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which have a fast rate of expansion and a strong propensity for osteogenic differentiation. This project aims to assess the use of CD271 derived MSC populations in scaffold based bone regeneration.

 

Key words: Mesenchymal stem cells, osteoarthritis, tissue scaffolds.

_____________________________

Simon Partridge will discuss:

 

"Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles: Bone and cartilage tissue engineering".

How hydroxyapatite is produced artificially and how specific parameters can influence hydroxyapatite nano-crystal morphology and composition. How surface coating of hydroxyapatite on degradable polymeric surfaces influences cell behaviour. Incorporating ceramic nano-particles with polymeric materials. Materials have been evaluated using human mesenchymal stem cells.

 

Key words:  Bone, tissue engineering, mesenchymal stem cell

_____________________________

Shane Walsh will speak on:

 

"Novel surfaces to stimulate and influence mesenchymal stem cell activity"

 

This project will employ the use of thin polymer films to identify favourable polymer topographies and exploit different polymer chemistries to functionalize surfaces with biomolecules. Investigating the restricted immobilisation of biomolecules to discrete regions of the surfaces, studies quantify the biological activity retained at the surface by evaluating mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) morphology and gene expression. These studies will help define parameters in scaffold development for musculoskeletal repair.

Keywords: mesenchymal stem cells; polymer; crosslinking

Chair:  Teresa Kelly, PhD student (Reproductive & Vascular Biology)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaap van Laar takes over the helm at the journal Rheumatology

Professor Jaap van Laar in action:

http://www.oxfordjournals.org/podcasts/rheumatology_podcast_episode038.mp3

Helen Foster and Children's Joint Assessment

Our very own Professor Helen Foster on RA in Children

http://www.oxfordjournals.org/podcasts/rheumatology_podcast_episode026.mp3

Friday 21 March 2014

Bodyweight, Lifestyles and Social Media

31st March 2014
 
Sherry Pagoto PhD, University Massachusetts - How Technology May Revolutionize Health Behavior Change
 
ABSTRACT: Mobile technology and social media are new tools that will enhance our ability to help people lose weight and develop healthy lifestyles. In addition to increasing the potency of behavioral interventions, these tools may help us reduce costs and give us the capacity to reach more people.  Sherry will give examples of her research using these tools and discuss both the potential and challenges.
 
Venue - Baddiley Clark Seminar Room
Time - 12.45 - 2pm

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Skin-Associated Dengue Infection April 14th

Monday 14th April, Katja Fink from the Singapore Immunology Network will be visiting and presenting some of her data at 4pm In the Research Beehive (room 2.22), Newcastle University.

Katja’s talk is entitled:

 

"Skin-associated dengue infection and immune cell activation”  and is she is being hosted by Muzz Haniffa, so please contact her if you wish to speak with Katja whilst she is at Newcastle.

 

Dengue virus causes an estimated 100 million clinically apparent infections each year and has become the most important mosquito-borne viral infection in the
world. Target cells of the virus include dendritic cells (DCs), monocytes andmacrophages. The human skin harbors distinct types of DCs, which include epidermal
Langerhans cells (LCs) and three different subsets of dermal DCs: CD14+, CD11c+and CD141+ dermal DCs (DDCs), each with a specific functional role. We
infected healthy human skin obtained during plastic surgery ex vivo todefine the cells targeted during a natural infection. Our results revealed that CD14+ and CD11c+
DDCs subsets were infected efficiently, resulting in the high induction of IFN-beta andSTAT1 as measured by nanostring. Interestingly, dengue infection seemed to have an
inhibitory role on DC function. The potential relevance of our findings fordengue pathogenesis will be discussed.

 

 

 

 

Skin Inflammation April 8th Seminar

Tuesday 8th April, Graham Ogg, from the MRC Humman Immunology Unit, in the Weatherall Institute at the University of Oxford, will be speaking at 5pm in room A009 in the Ellison Building, at Northumbria University

(Directions: up Northumberland Road past the City Hall, 100 metres, Ellison Building on the right has the revolving door; A009 is the first lecture theatre on the right).

Graham will be speaking on:

 

"Type 2 innate lymphoid cells and skin inflammation" and is being hosted by Stephen Todryk, so please contact him if you wish to speak with Graham whilst he is at Northumbria.

 

Primary Immunodeficiency, Osteoarthritis, Cartilage

This is just to remind you that the MRG Lab Meeting will take place on Friday 21st March 2014 at 9.00am in the Baddiley Clark Lecture Theatre.
 
Chair
 
Carole Proctor- Lecturer (PI – Tim Cawston)
 
Speakers
 
David Swan – Research Associate (PI – Sophie Hambleton) Title of Talk "Primary immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the gene that codes for the gated zinc channel ZIP7"
 
Colin Shepherd – Post Doc (PI - John Loughlin) Title of Talk "Investigating a novel OA susceptibility locus on Chromosome 13q34; mapping to MCF2L"
 
Steven Woods – Research Associate (PI David Young) Title of Talk "The role of microRNA-140-3p and its 'isomiR' in cartilage"

 

Tuesday 18 March 2014

The Very Latest: Ulcerative Colitis, Primary Immunodeficiency and Wound-Healing



 

 

Institute Research Student Seminars

Speakers:  Christopher Lamb, PhD student (Transplantation), Alexandra Battersby, PhD student (Transplantation) and Laura Mottram, PhD student (Dermatology)

 

Venue: Seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time:  Wednesday 19 March 2014 at 1.00pm

 

Christopher Lamb will present:

 

"The role of Î±Eβ7 integrin-expressing T lyphocytes in ulcerative colitis:

A potential target for therapy?"

 

Whilst the αEβ7 integrin is critical for lymphocyte retention in the intestine, studies exploring pathogenic or protective functions of αEβ7 expressing cells in human ulcerative colitis have, until now, been lacking. Deciphering this phenotype is critical for our understanding of disease pathogenesis and of translational importance with the development of etrolizumab, a humanized antibody specific to the β7 integrin that blocks α4β7:MAdCAM-1 and αEβ7:E-cadherin interactions.

 

Keywords: Ulcerative colitis, Î±Eβ7 integrin, T cell phenotypes

_____________________________

Alexandra Battersby will discuss:

 

"An Investigation into the Physical and Psychological Health of X-linked Carriers Chronic Granulomatous Disease".

 

X-linked carriers of chronic granulomatous disease are traditionally considered healthy.  This study examines the health problems of the female carriers. It is the largest study to date and demonstrates

that X-linked carriers of CGD have more medical problems than previously considered.

 

Key words:  X-linked CGD, Primary Immunodeficiency, Carriers

_____________________________

Laura Mottram will speak on:

 

"Wound-induced ATP release and calcium signalling in human keratinocytes"

 

It is known that ATP is released from cells and acts as an autocrine/paracrine signalling molecule. However, the mechanism of release from primary human keratinocytes in response to wounding remains unknown. Additionally, a calcium gradient exists within the epidermis of the skin which is disrupted by wounding causing a calcium wave to spread through cells. The role that wound-induced ATP release plays in calcium wave propagation and oscillations is investigated.

 

Keywords: Wound healing, ATP, calcium

 

Chair:  Catriona Barker, PhD student (Transplantation)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 13 March 2014

Monday 10 March 2014

Sherry Pagoto PhD - How Technology May Revolutionize Health Behavior Change.


Sherry Pagoto, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School
 
 
How Technology May Revolutionize Health Behavior Change
 
 
Mobile technology and social media are new tools that will enhance our ability to help people lose weight and develop healthy lifestyles.  In addition to increasing the potency of behavioral interventions these tools may help us reduce costs and give us the capacity to reach more people.  Sherry will give examples of her research using these tools and discuss both the potential and challenges.
 
Date:           31st March 2014
Venue:   Baddiley Clark Seminar Room
Time:    12.45-2.00
 
 

 
 
 

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Student Seminars 5th March, 1300-1400

Just a reminder that PhD students Angela Habgood (Musculoskeletal), Helen Lawrence (Reproductive & Vascular Biology) and Iain Croall (Diabetes) will discuss their current research at 13:00 today in seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, William Leech building.

Monday 3 March 2014

LANGERHANS & IMMUNOPATHOLOGY

This Thursday at 5pm (refreshments available from 4.30pmin room 2.21 of the Research Beehive, Newcastle University 

Dr. Clare Bennett from the Cancer Institute & Institute of Immunity and Transplantation at UCL will be speaking on

"Turning off immunopathology: Are Langerhans cells  the master switch?"

as part of the INE seminar series.