Abstract - In humans the daily production of billions of new blood cells is supported by a specialized group of cells called hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). HSCs are located in the bone marrow, where they give rise to several types of hematopoietic progenitors that in turn generate all the different blood cells necessary for life.
Mutations in PINK1 are the second most frequent cause of autosomal recessive early-onset Parkinson’s disease. PINK1 is activated upon mitochondrial damage to phosphorylate Ubiquitin and Parkin to stimulate Parkin E3 ligase activity, and this is critical for removal of damaged mitochondria by autophagy (mitophagy).
Review of the Year 2021 took place virtually today with the former Interim Dean, Inke Näthke sharing the highlights of activity within the School from 2021. Returning Dean, Julian Blow concluded the review with a look to the future where he highlighted plans for the coming year. The Review included the presentation of the annual School prizes. Here are the winners:
The People’s Award is for positive contributions to School culture.
A parasitic infection that affects millions of people around the world is to be targeted by a £2.5 million drug discovery programme at the Universities of Dundee, Aberystwyth and Cardiff.
Schistosomiasis, also known as Bilharzia, is a parasitic infection caused by tiny flatworms that live within the blood vessels around either the intestines or bladder. The infection is found in many tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and is estimated to cause more than 230 million clinical cases every year.
Two researchers from the MRC PPU have been awarded places in the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) Forging Futures Scheme. Bill Carton (Sapkota lab) and Emily Dickie (Alessi lab) will represent the University of Dundee in the scheme, which is running for the first time in 2022.
Amphista Therapeutics, the spin out company from the lab of Professor Alessio Ciulli, was awarded the ‘Financing Deal of the Year’ award 2021 at the Scrip Awards last month. This was in recognition of their $53M Series B funding.
The annual Scrips Awards applaud the essential role that the pharmaceutical, biotech and other allied industries play in improving healthcare. The awards span the entire range of industry activities, from new drug launches and clinical trials, to innovative deals, outsourcing and fundraising.
Abstract:
Whilst reports of non-lysine ubiquitination have been in existence for many years, it has remained unclear whether this process is intrinsic to mammals.
Many bacteria have the capability to actively propel themselves on surfaces by extension, surface attachment and retraction of micron-scale filaments known as type IV pili (TFP), this type of motion is called "twitching". Twitching has been primarily studied by single cell tracking using fluorescence microscopy and image analysis. These tools can track bacteria for hours at a time, during which bacteria can explore and begin to colonise new surfaces.
