Dr S Dietrich, Dr C Sharpe
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
Skeletal muscle allows us to move and live an independent life style. Muscle can regenerate from in-built muscle stem cells, and most of the time, is a trouble-free organ. In muscle disease such as muscular dystrophies, or when large portions of muscle are lost in an accident, regeneration fails. Therefore, efforts are being made to develop muscle stem cells for transplantation into a patient.
Adult muscle stem cells prefer a quiescent state and do not grow well in culture. Yet they are derived from embryonic muscle stem cells which are very active cells, delivering large muscle masses and adult muscle stem cells in a short period of time. This project aims to understand the properties of embryonic muscle stem cells and their specific stem cell niche to establish, whether the recapitulation of embryo-like conditions might improve adult cells considered for therapy.
Muscle and muscle stem cell development is the well-conserved across vertebrates. In this project, we will use the early Xenopus and the chicken embryo in the egg as a model. We will perform RNAseq experiments to establish the molecular signature of the embryonic muscle stem cells. We will challenge the cells in vivo with a variety of molecular constructs to explore, how well their stem cell state is protected. We will molecularly manipulate cells considered for therapy and graft them into the embryonic environment and test whether this improves the proliferative profile of the adult cells.
The projects combines a variety of approaches in cell, molecular and developmental biology, including construct design, embryo and cell culture, microinjection/ micromanipulation, in ovo electroporation, in situ hybridisation, immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, RNAseq experiments and bioinformatics.
How to apply:
We welcome applications from highly motivated prospective students who are committed to develop outstanding research outcomes. You can apply online at www.port.ac.uk/applyonline. Please quote project code PHBM3820218 in your application form.
Funding Notes
This project is only open to International (non-EU) students.
Eligible applicants will be considered for the Portsmouth Global PhD scholarship scheme.