MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London
Science for Health
NIMR research highlighted in MRC Annual Review
08 September 2008
The MRC Annual Review highlights the more significant MRC-funded research that came to fruition in the past year and explains how it relates to human health. The 2007/8 review features the work of some NIMR research groups.
Three areas of NIMR research have been highlighted in the 2007/8 MRC Annual Review.
- Robin Lovell-Badge and Iain Robinson showed that SOX2, a protein often associated with stem cells, is present within immature cells in embryonic pituitaries and that cells with SOX2 still existed in adult glands. These findings will help improve understanding of the production of normal hormone-producing cells. The research was a collaboration with colleagues at the UCL Institute of Child Health. (p10)
- Tony Holder developed a practical way to test human antibodies against a human malaria parasite in a model system that can’t be easily replicated in a test tube. The research created mice with human antibody receptors and a rat malaria parasite modified to look like the human form. This facilitated the study of human immune responses to components of the human parasite. The work was done in collaboration with Nottingham University, University Medical Centre in Utrecht and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne. (p 55-6)
- Ed Hulme has worked with GlaxoSmithKline find more selective ways to target M1 muscarinic receptors in the human forebrain. These receptors are under investigation as drug targets for treating Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. They used systematic mutagenesis to create mutations in many areas of a key part of the M1 muscarinic receptor – providing insights into exactly how the receptor binds to other molecules. (p 56)
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