Publication: The Lancet

Tommy Nyberg, Prof Neil M Ferguson, Sophie G Nash, Harriet H Webster, Seth Flaxman, Nick Andrews, Wes Hinsley, Jamie Lopez Bernal, Meaghan Kall, Prof Samir Bhatt, Paula Blomquist, Asad Zaidi, Erik Volz, Nurin Abdul Aziz, Katie Harman, Prof Sebastian Funk, Sam Abbott, COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, Russell Hope, Andre Charlett, Meera Chand, Prof Azra C Ghani, Shaun R Seaman,

17 March 2022

Summary

The omicron variant (B.1.1.529) of SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated partial vaccine escape and high transmissibility, with early studies indicating lower severity of infection than that of the delta variant (B.1.617.2). We aimed to better characterise omicron severity relative to delta by assessing the relative risk of hospital attendance, hospital admission, or death in a large national cohort.

Publication: MedRxiv

Kamen A Tsvetanov, Lennart R B Spindler, Emmanuel A Stamatakis, Virginia FJ Newcombe, Victoria C Lupson, Doris A Chatfield, Anne E Manktelow, Joanne G Outtrim, Anne Elmer, Nathalie Kingston, John R Bradley, Edward T Bullmore, James B Rowe, David K Menon

02 February 2022

Summary

COVID-19 have seen multi-system effects that include neurological, vascular and neurovascular injury. Acute neurological sequelae are common, ranging from mild dizziness, headaches and anosmia to severe encephalitis, stroke and delirium. Researchers assessed the impact of COVID-19 on chronic cerebrovascular reactivity after hospitalisation.

Patients were recruited through the NIHR COVID-19 BioResource. Eligibility was based on admission to Addenbrookes Hospital with COVID-19 between 10th March 2020 and 31st July 2020, aged 18 years or older, survived the acute illness, and attended for a follow up visit, and no contradictions to MRI.

Publication: bioRxiv

Bo Meng, Isabella A.T.M Ferreira, Adam Abdullahi, Steven A. Kemp, Niluka Goonawardane, Guido Papa, Saman Fatihi, Oscar J. Charles, Dami A. Collier, CITIID-NIHR BioResource COVID-19 Collaboration, The Genotype to Phenotype Japan (G2P-Japan) Consortium, Jinwook Choi, Joo Hyeon Lee, Petra Mlcochova, Leo James, Rainer Doffinger, Lipi Thukral, Kei Sato,  View ORCID ProfileRavindra K. Gupta

21 December 2021

Summary

As the SARS-CoV-2 virus replicates and spreads, errors in its genetic code can lead to changes in the virus. Working in secure conditions, researchers created synthetic viruses – known as ‘pseudoviruses’ – that carried key mutations found in the Delta and Omicron strains. They used these to study the virus’s behaviour.

They tested the pseudoviruses against blood samples donated to the NIHR COVID-19 BioResource. The blood samples were from vaccinated individuals who had received two doses of either the AstraZeneca (ChAdOx-1) or Pfizer (BNT162b2) vaccines. Read the full story.

Publication: Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease

Michael Barnes, Sarah Brockbank, Ian N Bruce, Coziana Ciurtin, Andrew P. Cop, Michael R. Ehrenstein, Paul Emery, Benjamin A. Fisher, John Isaacs, Ruth Matthews, Iain B. McInnes, Hayley Noble, Ayako Wakatsuki Pedersen, Costantino Pitzalis, Karim Raza, Anthony Rowe, Gemma Simpson, Dominic Stringer, Peter C. Taylor, Brian Tom, Yujie Zhong

Publication: Cell Reports

Bo Meng, Steven A. Kemp, Guido Papa, Rawlings Datir, Isabella A.T.M. Ferreira, Sara Marelli, William T. Harvey, Spyros Lytras, Ahmed Mohamed, Giulia Gallo, Nazia Thakur, Dami A. Collier, Petra Mlcochova

29 June 2021

One of the key mutations seen in the ‘Alpha variant’ of SARS-CoV-2 – the deletion of two amino acids, H69/V70 – enables the virus to overcome chinks in its armour as it evolves, say an international team of scientists.

SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus, so named because spike proteins on its surface give it the appearance of a crown (‘corona’). The spike proteins bind to ACE2, a protein receptor found on the surface of cells in our body. Both the spike protein and ACE2 are then cleaved, allowing genetic material from the virus to enter the host cell. The virus manipulates the host cell’s machinery to allow the virus to replicate and spread.

As SARS-CoV-2 divides and replicates, errors in its genetic makeup cause it to mutate. Some mutations make the virus more transmissible or more infectious, some help it evade the immune response, potentially making vaccines less effective, while others have little effect.

Towards the end of 2020, Cambridge scientists observed SARS-CoV-2 mutating in the case of an immunocompromised patient treated with convalescent plasma. In particular, they saw the emergence of a key mutation – the deletion of two amino acids, H69/V70, in the spike protein. This deletion was later found in B1.1.7, the variant that led to the UK being forced once again into strict lockdown in December (now referred to as the ‘Alpha variant’).

Researchers led by scientists at the University of Cambridge show that the deletion H69/V70 is present in more than 600,000 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences worldwide, and has seen global expansion, particularly across much of Europe, Africa and Asia.

• Read the press release about this research.

Publication: Authorea (pre-print)

Mark Ferris, Rebecca Ferris, Chris Workman, Eoin O’Connor, David A Enoch, Emma Goldesgeyme, Natalie Quinnell, Parth Patel, Jo Wright, Geraldine Martell, Christine Moody, Ashley Shaw, Christopher J.R. Illingworth, Nicholas J. Matheson, Michael P. Weekes

24 June 2021

When Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge upgraded its face masks for staff working on COVID-19 wards to filtering face piece 3 (FFP3) respirators, it saw a dramatic fall – up to 100% – in hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections among these staff.

The findings are reported by a team at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust. The research has not yet been peer-reviewed, but is being released early because of the urgent need to share information relating to the pandemic.

Publication: Clinical Trials

Estée Török, Benjamin R Underwood, Mark Toshner, Claire Waddington, Emad Sidhom, Katherine Sharrocks, Rachel Bousfield, Charlotte Summers, Caroline Saunders, Zoe McIntyre, Helen Morris, Jo Piper, Gloria Calderon, Sarah Dennis, Tracy Assari, Anita Marguerie de Rotrou, Ashley Shaw, John Bradley, John O’Brien, Robert C Rintoul, Ian Smith, Ed Bullmore, Krishna Chatterjee

22 June 2021

Summary

Researchers describe their experience of rapidly setting up and delivering a novel COVID-19 vaccine trial, using clinical and research staff and facilities in three National Health Service Trusts in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.

Researchers encountered and overcame a number of challenges including differences in organisational structures, research facilities available, staff experience and skills, information technology and communications infrastructure, and research training and assessment procedures. These were overcome by setting up a project team that included key members from all three organisations that met at least daily by teleconference.

Publication: bioRxiv

Conde C Domínguez, T Gomes, LB Jarvis, C Xu, SK Howlett, DB Rainbow, O Suchanek, HW King, L Mamanova, K Polanski, N Huang, E Fasouli, KT Mahbubani, M Prete, L Campos, HS Mousa, EJ Needham, S Pritchard, T Li, R Elmentaite, J Park, DK Menon, OA Bayraktar, LK James, KB Meyer, MR Clatworthy, K Saeb-Parsy, JL Jones, SA Teichmann

28 April 2021

Summary

Despite their crucial role in health and disease, researchers knowledge of immune cells within human tissues, in contrast to those circulating in the blood, remains limited. Researchers surveyed the immune compartment of lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues of six adult donors by single-cell RNA sequencing, including alpha beta T-cell receptor, gamma delta TCR and B-cell receptor variable regions.

To aid systematic cell type identification researchers developed CellTypist, a tool for automated and accurate cell type annotation. Using this approach combined with manual curation, researchers determined the tissue distribution of finely phenotyped immune cell types and cell states.

Publication: Science

Josephine M. Bryant,  Karen P. Brown,  Sophie Burbaud,  Isobel Everall,  Juan M. Belardinelli, Daniela Rodriguez-Rincon,  Dorothy M. Grogono,  Chelsea M. Peterson,  Deepshikha Verma,  Ieuan E. Evans,  Christopher Ruis,  Aaron Weimann,  Divya Arora,  Sony Malhotra,  Bridget Bannerman, Charlotte Passemar,  Kerra Templeton,  Gordon MacGregor, Kasim Jiwa,  Andrew J. Fisher,  Tom L. Blundell,  Diane J. Ordway,  Mary Jackson, Julian Parkhill, R. Andres Floto

30 April 2021

Summary:

Researchers have been able to track how a multi-drug resistant organism is able to evolve and spread widely among cystic fibrosis patients – showing that it can evolve rapidly within an individual during chronic infection. The researchers say their findings highlight the need to treat patients with Mycobacterium abscessus infection immediately, counter to current medical practice.

Publication: Nature

Emily Stephenson, Gary Reynolds, Rachel A. Botting, Fernando J. Calero-Nieto, Michael D. Morgan, Zewen Kelvin Tuong, Karsten Bach, Waradon Sungnak, Kaylee B. Worlock, Masahiro Yoshida, Natsuhiko Kumasaka, Katarzyna Kania, Justin Engelbert, Bayanne Olabi, Jarmila Stremenova Spegarova, Nicola K. Wilson, Nicole Mende, Laura Jardine, Louis C. S. Gardner, Issac Goh, Dave Horsfall, Jim McGrath, Simone Webb, Michael W. Mather, Rik G. H. Lindeboom, Emma Dann, Ni Huang, Krzysztof Polanski, Elena Prigmore, Florian Gothe, Jonathan Scott, Rebecca P. Payne, Kenneth F. Baker, Aidan T. Hanrath, Ina C. D. Schim van der Loeff, Andrew S. Barr, Amada Sanchez-Gonzalez, Laura Bergamaschi, Federica Mescia, Josephine L. Barnes, Eliz Kilich, Angus de Wilton, Anita Saigal, Aarash Saleh, Sam M. Janes, Claire M. Smith, Nusayhah Gopee, Caroline Wilson, Paul Coupland, Jonathan M. Coxhead, Vladimir Yu Kiselev, Stijn van Dongen, Jaume Bacardit, Hamish W. King, Anthony J. Rostron, A. John Simpson, Sophie Hambleton, Elisa Laurenti, Paul A. Lyons, Kerstin B. Meyer, Marko Z. Nikolić, Christopher J. A. Duncan, Kenneth G. C. Smith, Sarah A. Teichmann, Menna R. Clatworthy, John C. Marioni, Berthold Göttgens & Muzlifah Haniffa

20 April 2020

Summary

A UK-wide study has identified differences in people’s immune responses to COVID-19, depending on whether they have no symptoms or more serious reactions to the virus. Read the full story

Publication: Nature Medicine

Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease-National Institute of Health Research (CITIID-NIHR) COVID-19 BioResource Collaboration, Sarah A. Teichmann, Menna R. Clatworthy et al

20 April 2021

Analysis of human blood immune cells provides insights into the coordinated response to viral infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The researchers looked at blood samples from a cross-sectional cohort of 130 patients in Newcastle, Cambridge and London with varying severities of COVID-19.

They found raised levels of specific immune cells in asymptomatic people to help fight infection – but that patients with more serious symptoms had lost these protective cell types and instead gained inflammatory cells. In severe cases this led to lung inflammation, blood clotting difficulties and hospitalisation.

While it is not yet understood how the infection stimulates these immune responses, the study gives a molecular explanation for how COVID-19 could cause an increased risk of blood clotting and inflammation in the lungs, which can lead to the patient needing a ventilator.

This also uncovers potential new therapeutic targets to help protect patients against inflammation and severe disease.

Read the news article on our website.

Publication: Authorea

Publication: MedRxiV

Martin Wiegand, Sarah L. Cowan, Claire S. Waddington, David J. Halsall,  Victoria L. Keevil,  Brian D. M. Tom, Vince Taylor,  Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas, Jacobus Preller,  Robert J. B. Goudie

18 February 2021

Summary

Researchers propose a prognostic dynamic risk stratification for 48-hour in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19, using demographics and routinely-collected observations and laboratory tests: age, Clinical Frailty Scale score, heart rate, respiratory rate,

Publication: ELife

William L Hamilton, Dinesh Aggarwal, Charlotte Houldcroft, Ben Warne, Luke Meredith, Myra Hosmillo, Aminu Jahun,  Laura Caller, Sarah Caddy, Fahad Khokhar, Anna Yakovleva, Grant Hall, Theresa Feltwell, Malte Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Yasmin Chaudhry, Nicholas Brown, Ewan Harrison,  Gordon Dougan, Sharon Peacock,   Ian Goodfellow,  M. Estee Torok

16 February 2021

Summary:

Approximately 70% of residents in the genomic analysis were admitted to hospital during the study period, providing extensive opportunities for transmission between care homes and hospitals. Limiting viral transmission between care home residents should be a key target for infection control to reduce COVID-19 mortality in this population

Publication: OSF Preprints

Christopher J. R. Illingworth,  William L. Hamilton,  Ben Warne, Matthew Routledge, Ashley Popay, Chris Jackson, Tom Fieldman, Luke Meredith, Charlotte J. Houldcroft, Myra Hosmillo, Aminu Jahun, Laura Caller, Sarah Caddy, Anna Yakovleva, Grant Hall, Fahad A. Khokhar, Theresa Feltwell, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Yasmin Chaudhry, Dominic Sparkes, Lucy Rivett, Nick K. Jones, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Tom Dymond, Kayleigh Grainger, Chris Workman, Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas, Nicholas M. Brown, Michael P. Weekes, Stephen Baker, Sharon J. Peacock, Ian Goodfellow, Theodore Gouliouris, Daniela De Angelis, M. Estée Török

15 February 2021

Summary

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has been noted both for its rapid spread, but also for the heterogeneity of transmission, with incidences noted of superspreading behaviour.

Researchers applied a novel network reconstruction algorithm to find patterns of viral transmission occurring between patients and health care workers.

Publication: Medrxiv

Laura Bergamaschi, Federica Mescia, Lorinda Turner, Aimee Hanson, Prasanti Kotagiri, Benjamin J. Dunmore, Helene Ruffieux, Aloka De Sa, Oisin Huhn, Mark R. Wills, Stephen Baker, Rainer Doffinger, Gordon Dougan, Anne Elmer, Ian G Goodfellow, Ravindra K. Gupta, Myra Hosmillo, Kelvin Hunter, Nathalie Kingston, Paul J. Lehner, Nicholas J. Matheson, Jeremy K. Nicholson, Anna M. Petrunkina, Sylvia Richardson, Caroline Saunders, James E.D. Thaventhiran, Erik J. M. Toonen, Michael P. Weekes, Mark Toshner, Christoph Hess, John R. Bradley, Paul A. Lyons, Kenneth G.C. Smith

15 January 2021

Summary

It may be possible to predict which patients will go on to develop severe or long-term COVID symptoms (sometimes known as ‘long COVID’).

Cambridge researchers looked at blood samples taken regularly over three months from more than 200 people, ranging from COVID-19 patients who were severely ill and needed ventilation to asymptomatic NHS staff who had tested positive for the virus but showed no symptoms.

The immune systems in patients who were the sickest showed early evidence of an abnormal inflammatory response, leading to a flood of immune cells which damaged healthy cells as well as the virus. Finding inflammation early in the blood samples and at the point of diagnosis could help doctors to identify and predict patients who will develop severe COVID-19.

The results have been released as a pre-print, read the full news story.

Publication: MedRxiV

Christopher J. R. Illingworth, ProfileWilliam L. Hamilton,  ProfileChris Jackson, Ashley Popay, Luke Meredith, Charlotte J. Houldcroft, Myra Hosmillo, Aminu Jahun, Matthew Routledge, Ben Warne, Laura Caller, Sarah Caddy, Anna Yakovleva, Grant Hall, Fahad A. Khokhar, Theresa Feltwell, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Yasmin Chaudhry, Martin Curran, Surendra Parmar, Dominic Sparkes, Lucy Rivett, Nick K. Jones, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Tom Dymond, Kayleigh Grainger, Chris Workman, Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas, Nicholas M. Brown, Michael P. Weekes, Stephen Baker, Sharon J. Peacock, Theodore Gouliouris, Ian Goodfellow, Daniela de Angelis, M. Estée Török

27 October 2020

Summary:

A new software tool will help doctors identify where cases of COVID-19 were caused by transmission within a hospital, helping them to prevent further spread of the disease.

The new software package, A2B-Covid, combines knowledge about infection dynamics, data describing the movements of individuals, and genome sequence data to assess whether or not coronavirus has been transmitted between people in the hospital environment.

Publication: Cell Reports Medicine

Petra Mlcochova, Dami Collier, Allyson Ritchie, Sonny M. Assennato, Myra Hosmillo, Neha Goel, Bo Meng, Krishna Chatterjee, Vivien Mendoza, Nigel Temperton, Leo Kiss, Leo C. James, Katarzyna A. Ciazynska, Xiaoli Xiong, John AG. Briggs, James A. Nathan, Federica Mescia, Laura Bergamaschi, Hongyi Zhang, Petros Barmpounakis, Nikos Demeris, Richard Skells, Paul A. Lyons, John Bradley, Steven Baker, Jean Pierre Allain, Kenneth GC. Smith, Rachel Bousfield, Michael Wilson, Dominic Sparkes, Glenn Amoroso, Effrosyni Gkrania-Klotsas, Susie Hardwick, Adrian Boyle, Ian Goodfellow, Ravindra K. Gupta 

1 September 2020

Summary

Testing patients for COVID-19 as soon as they arrive at hospital is essential to obtain a diagnosis and to make sure they receive the correct treatment as soon as possible.

In a recent Cambridge study, the use of the SAMBA II test reduced the amount of time patients spent on holding wards. Now Cambridge researchers wanted to go further to create a ‘gold-standard’ method of testing.

The most common form of testing is taking a swab of the nose and throat (known as PCR) to see if the virus is present. However, it can take as long as 14 days for an individual to show symptoms of COVID-19, by which time the virus may have moved from the nose and throat and into the lungs and other tissues and organs, making it harder to detect via a swab test. Another way to detect the virus is looking for antibodies (from blood samples) in individuals.

Cambridge researchers combined the two tests – PCR and the antibody test – to help identify who may have the virus. They found combining both tests was more effective to identify patients who had Covid than those who had just one of the tests. Read the full news story.

Publication: medRxiv

Dami A Collier, Sonny M Assennato, Nyarie Sithole, Katherine Sharrocks, Allyson Ritchie, Pooja Ravji, Matt Routledge, Dominic Sparkes, Jordan Skittrall, Ben Warne, Anna Smielewska, Isobel Ramsey, Neha Goel, Martin Curran, David Enoch, Rhys Tassell, Michelle Lineham, Devan Vaghela, Clare Leong, Hoi Ping Mok, John Bradley, Kenneth Gc Smith, Vivien Mendoza, Nikos Demiris, Martin Besser, Gordon Dougan, Paul J Lehner, Hongyi Zhang, Claire Waddington, Helen Lee,  Ravindra K Gupta

03 June 2020

Summary:

SAMBA II machines were deployed in the ED and holding wards at Addenbrooke’s hospital to help detect COVID-19 in patients as part of a research trial called COVIDx.

Researchers investigated whether using the new machines could accurately provide a faster diagnosis than standard testing practices and review how it would affect patient waiting times.

After collecting nose and throat swabs from over 140 patients, the samples were processed using the SAMBA II machine. Researchers found they were able to provide an accurate diagnostic result within 90 minutes, compared to the standard 24-48-hour lab waiting time. Read the full story.

Publication: Nature

James E. D. Thaventhiran, Hana Lango Allen, Kenneth G. C. Smith 

06 May 2020

Summary:

Cambridge researchers sequenced the entire genetic code of 974 people with PID. The team were able to identify variations in genes already known to cause PID. To help identify genetic causes for the remaining participants and other patients with PID, the team used a statistical program known as BeviMed. BeviMed can be used to predict genes that may cause PID, by comparing the genomes of cases and controls. Using this technique, the team were able to identify new genes that cause PID. Full press release here

Publication: Science

Jong-Eun Park, Rachel A. Botting, Cecilia Domínguez Conde, Dorin-Mirel Popescu, Marieke Lavaert, Daniel J. Kunz, Issac Goh, Emily Stephenson, Roberta Ragazzini, Elizabeth Tuck, Anna Wilbrey-Clark, Kenny Roberts, Veronika R. Kedlian, John R. Ferdinand, Xiaoling He, Simone Webb, Daniel Maunder, Niels Vandamme, Krishnaa T. Mahbubani, Krzysztof Polanski, Lira Mamanova, Liam Bolt, David Crossland, Fabrizio de Rita, Andrew Fuller, Andrew Filby, Gary Reynolds, David Dixon, Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, Steven Lisgo, Deborah Henderson, Roser Vento-Tormo, Omer A. Bayraktar, Roger A. Barker, Kerstin B. Meyer, Yvan Saeys, Paola Bonfanti, Sam Behjati, Menna R. Clatworthy, Tom Taghon, Muzlifah Haniffa, Sarah A. Teichmann

21 February 2020

Summary:

Human thymus tissue makes T-cells for adaptive immunity and this research made a comprehensive cell atlas of thymus tissue over the course of human life, from embryo to adult thus gaining new insights into human T-cell development.

Publication: Genome Biology

E. Madissoon, A. Wilbrey-Clark, R. J. Miragaia, K. Saeb-Parsy, K. T. Mahbubani, N. Georgakopoulos, P. Harding, K. Polanski, N. Huang, K. Nowicki-Osuch, R. C. Fitzgerald, K. W. Loudon, J. R. Ferdinand, M. R. Clatworthy, A. Tsingene, S. van Dongen, M. Dabrowska, M. Patel, M. J. T. Stubbington, S. A. Teichmann, O. Stegle & K. B. Meyer

31 December 2019

Summary: 

The Human Cell Atlas, which is an international collaboration to map all the cell types in the human body.

However, delays between fresh sample collection and processing may lead to poor data and difficulties in experimental design.

This study looked at the effect of cold storage on fresh healthy spleen, esophagus, and lung from donors and concluded that cold storage of tissue works well and increases the time frame for processing samples; however robust protocols are needed for tissue preservation that can be used by all the research teams involved.

Publication: Immunity

Tomas Castro-Dopico, Thomas W. Dennison, John R. Ferdinand, Simon Clare, Miles Parkes, Menna R. Clatworthy et al

12 March 2019

Summary: 

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is due to aberrant responses of the gut mucosa to the resident microbiome.

This research looked at Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis (both types of IBD) to identify which immune cells are involved in IBD, and to help identify novel therapeutic targets.

Publication: Nature Immunology

Kylie R. James, Tomas Gomes, Rasa Elmentaite, Nitin Kumar, Emily L. Gulliver, Hamish W. King, Mark D. Stares, Bethany R. Bareham, John R. Ferdinand, Velislava N. Petrova, Krzysztof Polański, Samuel C. Forster, Lorna B. Jarvis, Ondrej Suchanek, Sarah Howlett, Louisa K. James, Joanne L. Jones, Kerstin B. Meyer, Menna R. Clatworthy, Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, Trevor D. Lawley, Sarah A. Teichmann

17 February 2020

______________________________________________________________________

Summary:

This research surveyed the microbiome in different regions along the length of a healthy human colon, and in parallel surveyed the populations of immune cells.The map of the bacterial composition in the human colon showed that specific genera had preferences for colonising certain regions of the colon. B and T cells also changed along the length of the colon. This is the first survey to find out what constitutes a healthy homeostatic relationship between the microbiome in the human colon and host immune cells.

Publication: Nature

Duuamene Nyimanu, Richard G. Kay, Petra Sulentic, Rhoda E. Kuc, Philip Ambery, Lutz Jermutus, Frank Reimann, Fiona M. Gribble, Joseph Cheriyan, Janet J. Maguire, Anthony P. Davenport

27 December 2019

________________________________________________________________

Summary:

An LC-MS method was developed to measure Apelin in human plasma, and demonstrate apelin dosing achieved the correct concentration in volunteers. The extracts were also analysed on an LC-MS system to identify break-down products of the peptide that were produced in the body. The researchers found out that apelin is broken down from both ends of the peptide, but more so from the C-terminal. This information can be used to develop a better peptide that is stabilised against degradation, therefore improving its characteristics as a drug; and apelin-derived peptides may be potential new drugs for cardiovascular disease.

Publication: QJM: An International Journal of Medicine

R El-Damanawi, M Lee, T Harris, L B Cowley, S Bond, H Pavey, R N Sandford, I B Wilkinson, F E Karet Frankl, T F Hiemstra

Publication: Nature

Henry Lee-Six, Sigurgeir Olafsson, Peter Ellis, Robert J. Osborne, Mathijs A. Sanders, Luiza Moore, Nikitas Georgakopoulos, Franco Torrente, Ayesha Noorani, Martin Goddard, Philip Robinson, Tim H. H. Coorens, Laura O’Neill, Christopher Alder, Jingwei Wang, Rebecca C. Fitzgerald, Matthias Zilbauer, Nicholas Coleman, Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, Inigo Martincorena, Peter J. Campbell & Michael R. Stratton

23 October 2019

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This was a study of early changes in human colorectal tissue that could lead to adenomas/carconomas. These are rare outcomes even after a substantially increased mutational burden has been placed on the tissue, but it is important to study the earliest stages of colorectal carcinogenesis.

Publication: Nature

Bashford-Rogers, R.J.M., Bergamaschi, L., McKinney, E.F., Pombal, D.C., Mescia, F., Lee, J.C., Thomas, D.C., Flint, S.M., Kellam, P., Jayne, D.R.W., Lyons P.A. and Smith, K.G.C.

25 September 2019

Publication: Pediatric Nephrology

Jack L. Martin, Anja V. Gruszczyk, Timothy E. Beach, Michael P. Murphy, Kourosh Saeb-Parsy 

2 June 2018

_______________________________________________________________________

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major problem in critically unwell children, including ischaemic reperfusion (IR) injury involving mitochondria. This research proposes a variety of novel therapeutic targets as potential treaments of AKI.

Publication: Immunity

Tomas Castro-Dopico, Thomas W. Dennison, John R. Ferdinand, Rebeccah J. Mathews, Aaron Fleming, Dean Clift, Benjamin J. Stewart, Chenzhi Jing, Konstantina Strongili, Larisa I. Labzin, Edward J.M. Monk, Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, Clare E. Bryant, Simon Clare, Miles Parkes, Menna R. Clatworthy

12 March 2019

______________________________________________________________________

Summary:

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is due to aberrant responses of the gut mucosa to the resident microbiome. The identification of which immune cells are involved in IBD will lead to identification of novel therapeutic targets.

Publication: Cell

Berry MR, Mathews RJ, Ferdinand JR, Jing C, Loudon KW, Wlodek E, Dennison TW, Kuper C, Neuhofer W, Clatworthy MR.

10 August 2017

Publication: Cell

Ramakrishnan L, Roca Soler FJ, Whitworth L, Redmond S, Jones AA.

29 August 2019

Publication: Journal of Experimental Medicine

Spencer S, Köstel Bal S, Egner W, Lango Allen H, Raza SI, Ma CA, Gürel M, Zhang Y, Sun G, Sabroe RA, Greene D, Rae W, Shahin T, Kania K, Ardy RC, Thian M, Staples E, Pecchia-Bekkum A, Worrall WPM, Stephens J, Brown M, Tuna S, York M, Shackley F, Kerrin D, Sargur R, Condliffe A, Tipu HN, Kuehn HS, Rosenzweig SD, Turro E, Tavaré S, Thrasher AJ, Jodrell DI, Smith KGC, Boztug K, Milner JD, Thaventhiran JED.

24 June 2019

Publication: Journal of Experimental Medicine

Zhang Z, Gothe F, Pennamen P, James JR, McDonald D, Mata CP, Modis Y, Alazami AM, Acres M, Haller W, Bowen C, Döffinger R, Sinclair J, Brothers S, Zhang Y, Matthews HF, Naudion S, Pelluard F, Alajlan H, Yamazaki Y, Notarangelo LD, Thaventhiran JE, Engelhardt KR, Al-Mousa H, Hambleton S†, Rooryck C†, Smith KGC†, Lenardo MJ†.

30 April 2019

Publication: Nature

Gupta RK, Abdul-Jawad S, McCoy LE, Mok HP, Salgado DPM, Martinez-Picado J, Nijhuis M, Wensing AMJ, Lee H, Grant P, Nastouli E, Lambert J, Pace M, Salasc F, Monit C, Innes, Mui L, Waters L, Frater J, Lever AML, Edwards SG, Gabriel IH, Olavarria E.

5 March 2019

Publication: Science

Cuchet-Lourenço D, Eletto D, Wu C, Plagnol V, Papapietro O, Curtis J, Ceron-Gutierrez L, Bacon CM, Hackett S, Alsaleem B, Maes M, Gaspar M, Alisaac A, Goss E, AlIdrissi E, Siegmund D, Wajant H, Kumararatne D, Al Zahrani MS, Arkwright PD, Abinun M, Doffinger R, Nejentsev S.

24 August 2018

Publication: Nature

Mills EL, Ryan DG, Prag HA, Dikovskaya D, Menon D, Zaslona Z, Jedrychowski MP, Costa ASH, Higgins M, Hams E, Szpyt J, Runtsch MC, King MS, McGouran JF, Fischer R, Kessler BM, McGettrick AF, Hughes MM, Carroll RG, Booty LM, Knatko EV, Meakin PJ, Ashford MLJ, Modis LK, Brunori G, Sévin DC, Fallon PG, Caldwell ST, Kunji ERS, Chouchani ET, Frezza C, Dinkova-Kostova AT, Hartley RC, Murphy MP, O’Neill LA.

28 March 2018

Publication: Nature

Burr ML, Sparbier CE, Chan-YC, Williamson JC, Woods K, Beavis P,Lam EYN, Henderson MA, Bell CC, Stolzenburg S, Gilan O, Noori T, Morgens D, Bassik MC, Neeson PJ, Behren A, Darcy PK, Dawson S-J, Voskoboinik I, Trapani JA, Cebon J, Lehner PJ^†, Dawson MA^†.

16 August 2017

Publication: Nature Genetics

Lee, J.C., Biasci, D., Roberts, R., Gearry, R.B., Mansfield, J.C., Ahmad, T., Prescott, N.J., Satsangi, J., Wilson, D.C., Jostins, L., Anderson, C.A., Consortium, U.I.G., Traherne, J.A., Lyons, P.A., Parkes, M. and Smith, K.G.C.,

9 January 2017

Publication: Cell

C.A. Madigan, C.J. Cambier, K.M. Kelly-Scumpia, P.O. Scumpia, T.Y. Cheng, J. Zailaa, B.R. Bloom, D.B. Moody, S.T. Smale, A. Sagasti, R.L. Modlin, L. Ramakrishnan.

24 August 2017

Publication: Nature Genetics

Tchasovnikarova IA, Timms RT, Douse DH, Roberts RC, Dougan G, Kingston RE Modis Y, Lehner PJ .

5 June 2017

Publication: Arthritis Res Ther

Vanderleyden, I., Linterman, M.A. and Smith, K.G.C.

30 October 2014