News

Press release

Simon Clark and Tony Day’s research featured in Wellcome News, Issue 65 December 2010, p14, wellcome.ac.uk Team finds mutation involved in macular degeneration.

Papers accepted

Byron, A., Morgan, M. R., & Humphries, M. J. (2010). Adhesion signalling complexes. Current Biology. In press.

Grant news

Clair Baldock

Was awarded a BBSRC project grant: Regulation and substrate binding of the tolloid proteinase family

Andreas Prokop

Instituto de Neurociencias, Alicante, Spain, 17 December.Spectraplakins - cytoskeletal integrators with key roles in neuronal growth

Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield, 10 January. Spectraplakins - cytoskeletal integrators with key roles in brain development

Natalia Sánchez-Soriano

"The Christmas Meeting", Instituto de Neurociencias, Alicante, Spain, 22 December. Molecular mechanisms underlying the roles of Short stop in neuronal growth

Institute Cajal (CSIC), Madrid, 14 January. Molecular mechanisms underlying the roles of Spectraplakins in neuronal growth

Mark Travis

Keystone conference on "TGF-beta in immune responses: from bench to bedside", Snowbird, Utah, 7-10 January.Lack of Integrin-Mediated TGF-beta Activation by Dendritic Cells Results in Protection from Chronic Gastrointestinal Parasite Infection

Other news

Tony Day

Has been invited to serve on the Management Committee of the Oxford Protein Purification Facility, located at the Harwell Research Complex.

Tim Hardingham

Attended the Orthopaedic Research Society (USA) Conference in Long Beach California 12-16 Jan. Tim was Topic Chair in Cartilage, meniscus and synovium and co-organised 8 sessions.

Jennifer Thomson

Is currently on a research visit to her CASE sponsor, Eden Biodesign (Speke, Liverpool).

Doug Dyer

British Society of Immunology Congress 2010, Liverpool, 6-10 December.TSG-6 binds to the inflammatory cytokine CXCL8 and modulates its activity.

Matt Stroud

Actin 2010 Meeting, Bristol, 3 December. MACT1 is a novel microtubule-actin crosslinking protein

50th Annual American Society of Cell Biology Conference, Philadelphia, 11-15 December. MACT1 is a novel microtubule-actin crosslinking protein

Joanna Williams

'Fertility 2011', Dublin,  4-6 January. The role of TSG-6 and inter-alpha-inhibitor in cumulus matrix expansion during murine and human ovulation

John Worthington

Keystone conference on "TGF-beta in immune responses: from bench to bedside", Snowbird, Utah, 7-10 January.Enhanced induction of Foxp3+ regulatory T-cells by specialized gut dendritic cells is dependent on TGF-beta activation by the integrin alphaV beta8

Public engagement

Peter Bell

Spent 2 days (10-11 January) teaching in the Manchester Museum as part of the 'Lifelabs' program. Peter led the BTEC students through a practical PCR session.

A-level study days – call for Centre volunteers

February 4th and 11th sees the Centre hosting another two study days in collaboration with The Manchester Museum. A-level students have been invited from the local area to participate in a 3.5 hour-workshop (9.30 am-1pm). The workshop is split into two distinct activities: the hands-on practical session entitled 'CSI Matrix' and an interactive meet-the-scientist event, 'Matrix has got Talent', and we are looking for willing volunteers to help us run these sessions.Please contact either Doug Dyer (douglas.dyer@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk) or Ceri Harrop (ceri.harrop@machester.ac.uk) if you would like to volunteer.

Congratulations to…

Simon Clark and Tony Day

Were granted a US patent on 9 November (US 7,829,301 B2): Screening assays for binding antagonists of the AMD-associated variant of factor H (H384). The co-inventors are: A. J. Day, S. J. Clark, P. N. Bishop, R. B. Sim, A. Blom & D. Heinegård.

Ana Hildago Sastre

Has been selected to attend the "ES cells as a Model System for Embryonic Development" course to be held in Mexico between 27 February and 17 March.  This course is run once every two years and Ana is one of between 5 and 8 people from the UK who have been selected to attend.

John Worthington

Received a grant from the British Society of Immunology and also won a Scholarship from the National institute of allergy and infectious diseases (NIAID) to attend the Keystone meeting (see above).

Local Cell-Matrix Centre information

PI Retreat

Last week, the Centre PIs all gathered for a 3-day retreat in Ambleside, where they discussed a possible future Centre-wide strategic collaboration. The successful outcome resulted in an overall project title of "Recreating healthy tissue by reprogramming the cellular environment" with a current focus on osteoarthritis and vascular disease, and we will try to use this topic to attract funding in the future.

Photo poster & journals

We've assembled a photo poster of everyone in the Centre, which is now located in the sofa area. It shows PIs, postdocs, postgrads, and support staff, and is colour-coded by lab. In case you are not familiar with everyone in the Centre, you can check out who is who by having a quick look at the poster. Many thanks to Mel Ward, Alex Carisey and Anna Fildes, and others who took some of the photos, for assembling the poster.

There is also a magazine rack in the sofa area, which has several journals that are available for anyone in the Centre to read. The Centre subscribes to some, and others are donated by various PIs. The journals are as follows:

•  Nature

•  Nature Reviews Cancer

•  Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

•  New Scientist

•  ASCB Newsletter

•  THES

•  Wellcome News

•  JCB

•  Current Opinion – Structural Biology

•  Current Opinion – Genetics & Development

•  Cancer Research

•  Developmental Neurobiology

•  Journal of Cell Science

•  BSCB Newsletter

•  ASCB Newsletter

•  Organogenesis