| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/T19599/01 |
| Title: |
The Role of Angiogenesis in Wound Healing: an Inter-Disciplinary Evaluation (RAWHIDE) |
| Principal Investigator: |
Mitchell, Professor CA |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Biomedical Sciences |
| Organisation: |
University of Ulster |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
14 February 2005 |
Ends: |
13 February 2008 |
Value (£): |
195,537
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Instrumentation Eng. & Dev. |
Non-linear Systems Mathematics |
| Tissue Engineering |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Healthcare |
Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The success and time a wound takes to heal is critically dependent upon restablishment of the blood supply in a process known as angiogenesis, in which a new capillary network grows into tissue. The regulation of angiogenesis over time during wound repair in vivo has been largely unexplored, due to difficulties in observing events within blood vessels. In this study we will use a combination of complementary methods from biology, chemistry and mathematics, integrated through powerful imaging techniques, to understand the dynamics of angiogenesis in a living animal. We will examine how a small wound in the skin musculature of a mouse heals over time using a chamber surgically implanted on the back of a mouse; the mouse is of a genetic strain that allows endothelial cells lining capillaries to fluoresce, enabling sub-surface blood vessels to be imaged. We will observe and record successive measures of blood vessel growth using fluorescence and multi-photon microscopy, allowing non-invasive and non-destructive imaging of tissues, which will yield a dynamic and three-dimensional picture of tissue, cell and molecular markers in growing blood vessels over a wide range of space- and time-scales. Novel non-toxic compounds will be generated that incorporate strongly fluorescent lanthanide metals, enabling specific chemical markers that play an important role in angiogenesis to be tagged and imaged: key molecules in the extracellular matrix and proteins signalling endothelial cell death will be targetted with this technique. New mathematical models will be developed to understand and quantify some of the fundamental mechanisms by which the flow of blood and its component cells influence the lifetime and viability of newly formed vessels in a growing capillary network; experimental data will provide unique observations to both motivate and validate theoretical models. We believe such a multidisciplinary approach is vital to meet the challenge of unravelling the full biological complexity of angiogensis.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.ulst.ac.uk |