News

Structural analysis of herpes simplex virus by optical super-resolution imaging

Research led by Dr Crump in the Department of Pathology and Prof Kaminski in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology ( http://laser.ceb.cam.ac.uk/ ) has utilised cutting edge super-resolution microscopy techniques to investigate the internal structure of herpes simplex virus...

In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) this week – Protein crystallography shows how bacterial toxins are activated

In this week’s PNAS , Drs Nick Greene and Allister Crow publish their research, led by Professors Vassilis Koronakis and Colin Hughes, which uncovers the high resolution crystal structure of the toxin-activating acyl transferase. By exploring the crystal and solution structures and active site of...

Published in Modern Pathology

An international collaboration lead by Dr Heather Griffin and Dr John Doorbar in the Department of Pathology, has lead to the development of a dual biomarker system for the molecular stratification of cervical neoplasia. The combined detection of the human papillomavirus E4 antigen (green) along...

Erythropoiesis - Fbxo7 helps to stop cell division during red blood cell development

Research led by Drs Suzanne Randle and Heike Laman has been published in the Journal of Pathology this month. This work, funded by the BBSRC, identified a role for Fbxo7 in regulating the cell cycle during erythrocyte differentiation. During erythrocyte differentiation, Fbxo7 stabilised expression...

A LAIR1 insertion generates broadly reactive antibodies against malaria variant antigens

Dr Peter Bull and colleagues publish new research in the journal Nature Malaria still claims over 400,000 lives every year, mostly due to infection by a single species of malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum . However, people living in the presence of regular exposure to malaria parasite...

Maternal NK cell recognition of the placenta determines reproductive success

Francesco Colucci and Ashley Moffett have been awarded a £2million Joint Investigator Award "Maternal NK cell recognition of the placenta determines reproductive success" Our goal is to understand how the uterine immune system regulates placentation and reproductive success in humans and to use...

MYO6 is targeted by Salmonella virulence effectors to trigger PI3-kinase signaling and pathogen invasion into host cells

A new study from the group of Prof. Vassilis Koronakis has just been published in PNAS. Salmonella causes many different diseases including gastroenteritis and typhoid fever. For infection to take place Salmonella has to enter the epithelium in the gut by injecting a number of effector proteins...

Human fetal dendritic cells promote prenatal T-cell immune suppression through arginase-2

During gestation the developing human fetus will come into contact with a range of signaling molecules, including food antigens and microbes. However, whether the fetal immune system can detect and respond to such diverse stimuli remains unclear. Through this study we demonstrate a complex immune...

Protein-directed ribosomal frameshifting temporally regulates gene expression

A new study from the Firth and Brierley groups has just been published in Nature Communications . Programmed −1 ribosomal frameshifting is a mechanism of gene expression, whereby specific signals within messenger RNAs (mRNAs) direct a proportion of translating ribosomes to shift −1 nt and continue...

Structure and mechanotransmission mechanism of the MacB superfamily

Published in PNAS: Structure and mechanotransmission mechanism of the MacB superfamily. Researchers from the Pathology department at the University of Cambridge have published a ground-breaking new paper that sheds light on how bacteria defend themselves against antibiotics and secrete protein...

Graphing of village networks in Uganda reveals determinants of success of large-scale treatment campaigns

Researchers from the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge have published a cutting-edge study showing that village social networks determine how many people receive treatment from community (lay) medicine distributors in mass drug administration (MDA). Over 1.9 billion people...

New guide to help identify and measure levels of genetic markers in blood

Guidelines for ‘future-proofing’ blood samples in biobanks and prospective clinical trials A set of important guidelines to help laboratory studies using blood samples has been published by researchers at the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Published today in the journal Cancer...

New insights into early interactions between Chlamydia and mammalian host cells

A new study led by Dr Richard Hayward illuminating how the pathogenic bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis enters mammalian host cells has just been published in PLoS Pathogens . C.trachomatis remains the leading bacterial agent of sexually transmitted disease worldwide and causes a form of blindness (...

New insights into an essential bacterial protein trafficking system

The Koronakis lab has published a new paper in PNAS that sheds light on a key protein trafficking system essential for the survival and pathogenicity of many bacteria. Bacterial lipoproteins are vital structural components of the cell envelope and are responsible for the insertion of...

Professor Jim Kaufman elected as an EMBO member

Professor Jim Kaufman has recently been elected as an EMBO member. Professor Kaufman will hence join the rank of 1800 internationally leading researchers who have made substantial contributions to broad field of molecular biology. Professor Kaufman started his career research career working with...

Secrets of Pregnancy

Human cell atlas study reveals how the maternal immune system is modified in early pregnancy The first Human Cell Atlas study of early pregnancy in humans has shown how the function of the maternal immune system is affected by cells from the developing placenta. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger...

A newly discovered enterovirus protein facilitates virus growth in gut epithelial cells

A new study led by Valeria Lulla and Andrew Firth from the Division of Virology has just been published in Nature Microbiology . Enteroviruses comprise a large group of mammalian pathogens that includes poliovirus. Pathology in humans ranges from sub-clinical to acute flaccid paralysis, myocarditis...

Professor Ashley Moffett elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences

Professor Ashley Moffett has been elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in recognition of her pioneering work on the placenta and reproductive immunology. Ashley Moffett is the foremost international authority and investigator of the immunology of human reproduction. She began her...

New blood test to help treat cancer patients

Researchers at the Department of Pathology have discovered a simple new blood test that will help to diagnose and treat certain types of cancer. The research was led by Dr Matthew Murray and Prof Nicholas Coleman. Both researchers work at University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Key...

Distinct Polymorphisms in HLA Class I Molecules Govern Their Susceptibility to Peptide Editing by TAPBPR

Open Access DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.09.074 MHC class I molecules play a critical role in immunosurveillance by presenting antigenic peptides to CD8+ T lymphocytes. Research in the Boyle group in the Department of Pathology focuses on understanding how peptides are selected on MHC...

Studies of Chlamydia help to reveal a new pathway of cellular filopodia formation

Studies of pathogen-host interactions frequently illuminate novel insights into fundamental cell biology. Previously, the Hayward laboratory revealed that like some viruses the human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis hijacks filopodial capture for entry into target mammalian cells via SNX9, a host...

Welcome to Dr Rahul Roychoudhuri

We are delighted to welcome Dr Rahul Roychoudhuri to the Department of Pathology from June 1st, 2020. Rahul will join the Division of Immunology as Senior Lecturer. His research focus will be on the regulation of immune responses, especially as controlled by regulatory T cells. He will also become...

Dr Amit Bhasin

It is with great sadness that we learned of the untimely death of Dr Amit Bhasin this week. Amit spent much of his career at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and played a key role from 2002 onwards in establishing the Gates Malaria Partnership as an innovative research...

An Autonomous Oscillation Times and Executes Centriole Biogenesis

Cells must accurately grow centrioles to the correct length at the correct time in the cell cycle in order to maintain normal physiology. Michael Boemo, who recently joined the department as a research group leader, collaborated with the Raff lab (Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford) to...

Senior Academic Promotions 2020

I give my warm congratulations to Matt Murray and Heike Laman for being promoted to Reader and to Paolo D’Avino for promotion to Senior Lecturer. The Department is proud of your achievements and for the terrific contributions you make to the research, teaching and administration within the...

Research Fellowship in Animal Parasitology

Congratulations to Dr Anna Protasio who has been awarded a Research Fellowship in Animal Parasitology at Christ's College. Anna is interested in genome dynamics mediated by transposable elements in parasites ( https://annaprotasio.github.io/ ). She will undertake some teaching at Christ's College...

Funding awarded from the Rosetrees Trust for project: Targeting the function of Plasmodium Protein Disulphide Isomerase to Prevent Malarial Transmission.

Group Leader Dr Andrew Blagborough has been awarded funding from the Rosetrees Trust for his project “Targeting the function of Plasmodium Protein Disulphide Isomerase to Prevent Malarial Transmission.” Malaria remains a major global-health challenge, causing 405,000 deaths annually. Existing tools...

Proteomics of cold sore virus (HSV-1) infection

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infects approximately two-thirds of the world’s population, causing cold sores or genital herpes that re-occur sporadically throughout people’s lives. When HSV re-activates it dramatically re-organises infected cells in order to turn them into highly efficient virus-...