主讲人：Prof. Enrique Amaya

讲座地点：新生物楼三楼会议室

讲座日期：2010-03-05

 

A major goal in regenerative medicine is to understand and ultimately facilitate our body’s ability to repair itself following injury. As a first step toward this goal, we are investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for embryonic wound healing. Unlike adults, embryos have remarkable capacities to heal wounds quickly and efficiently, without leaving a scar. For this reason embryos have much to teach us about how to heal perfect wounds. In my lab we study all aspects of embryonic wound healing. It has previously been suggested that inflammation is inhibitory to perfect wound healing, and that embryos do not mount an inflammatory response, thus providing an explanation for why embryos heal wounds perfectly. We have recently shown that this is not the case, as embryos do mount an inflammatory response following injury. We are now describing the molecular mechanisms that lead to the specification and function of inflammatory cells during wound healing in embryos. In addition, we are investigating how amphibians are able to regenerate appendages following traumatic injury. For example, frog tadpoles are able to regenerate their tails completely within 7-10 days following amputation. The regenerated tails have all the tissues present in a normal tail, including the spinal cord, muscles, skin, and major blood vessels. Remarkably, all of these tissues regenerate to form a fully functional tail in a matter of a week. We are using genomic and transgenic approaches to identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for tissue regeneration in these animals. Our ultimate aim is to identify novel molecular and cellular targets, which can be exploited to improve wound healing and tissue regeneration in human patients.

 

 

A fully funded 3-year PhD studentship is available in Prof. Enrique Amaya’s lab in the Faculty of Life Science, University of Manchester, UK to start either October 2010 or October 2011. The aim of the PhD is to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms of embryonic wound healing and/or tissue regeneration. The successful candidate will be a talented and self-motivated person with a sound background in developmental, cellular or molecular biology. The studentship is for at least three years and includes living expenses (£13,700/year), tuition fees (around £11,000/year), research expenses (£8,000/year) and conference travel grants. We strongly encourage anyone who is interested to apply for this studentship by sending his/her CV and personal statement to enrique.amaya@manchester.ac.uk^th, Feb, 2010. Applicants will be shortlisted on 1^st of March and interviewed on 4^th and 5^th of March by Prof. Enrique in Beijing following his seminars at NIBS and Peking University. as soon as possible. The deadline will be 25

 

 

 

A major goal in regenerative medicine is to understand and ultimately facilitate our body’s ability to repair itself following injury. As a first step toward this goal, we have begun to investigate the molecular and cellular basis of embryonic wound healing. Unlike adults, embryos have the remarkable capacity of healing wounds quickly and efficiently, without leaving a scar. Therefore, embryos have much to teach us about how to heal a perfect wound. In order to understand the mechanisms of embryonic wound healing, our lab is studying all aspects of embryonic wound healing, including the signals that emanate from the wound immediately after injury, the cellular mechanisms that control wound closure and the role of inflammation during embryonic wound healing.

 

Another major goal in regenerative medicine is to understand the mechanisms that allow some organisms to regenerate complex tissues. The capacity to regenerate body parts varies greatly amongst vertebrates, from amphibians, such as the salamander, which can fully regenerate its limbs after removal. In order to better understand the vertebrate regenerative response, we have begun to examine regeneration in a well-studied, model organism, the amphibian Xenopus. While still in its juvenile tadpole stage, Xenopus possesses the ability to regenerate its tail completely within 7-10 days following amputation. The regenerated tail has all the tissues present in a normal tail, including the spinal cord, muscles, skin, and the major blood vessels. Remarkably, all of these tissues regenerate to form a fully functional tail in a matter of a week. We are using functional genomic approaches to identify novel genes involved in the regeneration of all these tissue types and in their correct proportions and pattern. Our ultimate aim is to identify new gene targets, which may form the basis of novel therapeutic and clinical applications that will allow humans to heal wounds and regenerate tissues better.

 

 

The Healing Foundation is a UK fundraising charity championing the cause of people living with disfigurement and visible loss of function, by funding research into pioneering surgical and psychological healing techniques. Through research, they also raise awareness about the cause and provide information about the sources of support. http://www.thehealingfoundation.org/

 

 

 

The Healing Foundation Centre at the University of Manchester represents a 25 year, £10 million commitment between The Healing Foundation and the University of Manchester to advance the understanding of wound healing and tissue regeneration.  The ultimate goal of the Centre is to identify treatments that will improve the lives of patients with disfigurements, either congenital, or following accident or disease. As a first step toward this goal, the Centre is investigating the mechanisms of wound healing and tissue regeneration at the most basic cell, molecular and genetic level, using a variety of model systems. Since embryos are able to heal wounds quickly and perfectly, without scars, the Amaya lab is investigating the cell and molecular basis of wound healing in frog embryos. Furthermore, frogs and salamanders have unprecedented capacities to regenerate tissues following injury. We are investigating the mechanisms employed by these organisms to repair injuries so efficiently. In addition scientists at the Centre are studying chronic wounds in a diabetic mouse model, with the goal of identifying mechanisms that will improve healing in chronic wounds, and others are using fruit flies to understand the genetics and cell biology of epithelial fusions and wound healing. Eventually, the Centre will host between six and eight groups, working with the common goal of improving our understanding of wound healing and tissue regeneration in a variety of model organisms. http://www.hfctr.manchester.ac.uk/ourresearch/index.asp

 

 

The University of Manchester is Britain`s largest single-site university and has a proud history of achievement and an ambitious agenda for the future. The University has an exceptional record of generating and sharing new ideas and the quality, breadth and volume of its research activity is unparalleled in the UK. In biomedical and pre-clinical research, the Faculty of Life Sciences is recognised as a site of research excellence in terms of research power and importance. In the most recent assessment of research quality (RAE2008), the Faculty has been rated as one of the leading centres for biological sciences research in the UK.