Clinical Connections - Spring 2020

A cardiac stem cell, showing cytoskeleton in red, muscle fibres in green and nuclei in purple
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF
GROUNDBREAKING TREATMENTS
Dirk Werling, Professor of Molecular Immunology
The 91°µÍø’s research facilities are currently being revamped to stay
at the cutting edge of the demands we need to fulfil. One of these demands is the greater impact of basic research and research equipment to closer link research and clinical impact, whether this is on a large scale for farmed animals, or on a small scale for a ‘personalised medicine’ approach in companion animals.
Within the current investment of the 91°µÍø at the Hawkshead Campus, and with support from Hertfordshire
Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Animal Care Trust, we were able to purchase two state-of-the-art Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorter machines, a new microscope to enable researchers to perform live-cell imaging, and a multicolour ELISpot Reader to allow precise enumeration of active immune cells.
What does this new equipment allow us to do?
First, the Fluorescence-Activated Cell
Sorter (FACS) analyser: Each cell in our body expresses a specific set of molecules on their surface, similar to a postcode, which allows us to detect these in, for example, peripheral blood. Monitoring the occurrence and decline of specific markers on the surface of cells is already used in human medicine to identify circulating leukemic cells, to assess the effectiveness of treatment of cancer therapy, and to assess the impact of, for example, antibiotic treatment in the case of infectious diseases.
CLINICAL CONNECTIONS 91°µÍø Clinical Services Newsletter Spring 2020
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RABBIT VACCINATION A PROMISING SPINAL ADRENALECTOMY ANAESTHESIA CONCERNS INJURY THERAPY FOR CUSHING’S MONITORING
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COURTESY OF LUKE DUTTON