Deciphering glycan fingerprint of healthy microbiota
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Graduate Office
Abstract
Human mucosal surfaces such as gastrointestinal tract harbour numerous numbers of microbes, so called microbiota. Advances in microbiology suggest that microbiota have significant influence on human physiology (e.g. preserving healthy gut functions). In this project, the successful candidate will aim to address the key question in the field "what the healthy microbiota looks like?". The research outputs will provide us better understanding on the microbial community in the gut and pave the way to improve gut health by modulating microbiota.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Nathalie Juge (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Dimitra Lamprinaki (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M011216/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
| 1786460 | Studentship | BB/M011216/1 | 01/10/2016 | 31/03/2021 | Dimitra Lamprinaki |
| Description | Discovered binding of gut bacteria species to lectins expressed by myeloid cells. We identified the receptors of myeloid cells and epitopes of bacteria for this interaction. |
| Exploitation Route | Development of therapeutic strategies to target glyco-immune checkpoints. |
| Sectors | Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | Bursary for the conference: "25th International Symposium on Glycoconjugates" |
| Amount | € 500 (EUR) |
| Organisation | International Glycoconjugate Organization (IGO) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Start | 08/2019 |
| End | 08/2019 |
| Description | Bursary for the conference: "Exploring Human Host Microbiome Interactions in Health and Disease 2018" in Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK |
| Amount | £126 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Wellcome Genome Campus |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2018 |
| End | 12/2018 |
| Description | Norwich Research Park Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership |
| Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2016 |
| End | 10/2020 |
| Description | Travel Grant |
| Amount | £750 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Microbiology Society |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2017 |
| End | 03/2018 |
| Description | Travel grant to attend to a conference |
| Amount | £450 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biochemical Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2019 |
| End | 08/2019 |
| Description | Chemical biology-Siglec |
| Organisation | University of Alberta |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Used cell lines provided by collaborator to complement our biological investigations on the role of lectins in the interaction with bacteria associated with colon cancer |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided cell lines to complement our lines of investigations on the role of Siglecs on bacteria-host immune response |
| Impact | Manuscript submitted Phd thesis completed |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with Dr. Matthew Macauley |
| Organisation | University of Alberta |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We provide the bacterial strains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborator is porividing to us two human cell lines. One of each has a depleted gene. |
| Impact | We will look into the interactions between our bacterial strains and the human cell lines. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with Prof. Alba Silipo |
| Organisation | University of Naples |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Material production (recombinant protein and bacteria) |
| Collaborator Contribution | Analysis of bacteria and protein interaction by STD-NMR |
| Impact | This collaboration brought further insights into the interaction between bacteria and lectins, identifying the specific bacterial-ligands for this interaction. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with Prof. Cristina De Castro |
| Organisation | University of Naples |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We provided microbial samples |
| Collaborator Contribution | They conducted glycan analysis on microbial glycans |
| Impact | We have now insights relative to the glycan composition of the bacteria we look in this study |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with Prof. Kurt Drickamer |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Department | Department of Life Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Investigation of bacteria with a C-type lectin binding that our collaborator provided to us. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of a certain C-type lectin. |
| Impact | Provision of protein and also technical knowledge on how to express a certain recombinant protein. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Collaboration with Prof. Paul Crocker |
| Organisation | University of Dundee |
| Department | Division of Cell Signalling and Immunology |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Binding investigation of bacteria with a certain group of proteins provided by the collaborator. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of a wide range of recombinant proteins to check bacteria binding with. |
| Impact | We have identified a certain protein within a group of proteins that can bind to the under investigation bacteria strains. Suggestions for future experiments. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Glycoimmunology |
| Organisation | University of Dundee |
| Department | Division of Cell Signalling and Immunology |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Exchange of ideas and findings |
| Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of ideas and materials/member of Supervisory PhD Commiteee |
| Impact | Joint abstracts to Conferences (posters and oral presentations) |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Microbial carbohydrate chemistry |
| Organisation | University of Naples |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Provided biological context and material to study microbial polysaccharide-lectin interactions by STD NMR to complement our research studies |
| Collaborator Contribution | Carried out STD NNMR analyses of lectins and microbial polysaccharides we provided |
| Impact | Joint publication and manuscript Provision of data for PhD theses (on both sites) Contribution to successful Innovative Training Network (ITN) funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Microbial polysaccharides |
| Organisation | Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Seconda Università di Napoli |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| PI Contribution | Provided collaborator with bacterial samples to be analyses |
| Collaborator Contribution | Purified bacterial cell surface polysaccharides and analysed glycosylation chemical structures |
| Impact | Joint Abstract describing the collaborative work to Conference |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Engagement with the public in Norwich |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this public engagement activity, in the main square of Norwich general public stopped by to hear about gut microbiota and they completed some quizzes to test their knowledge in the topic. People were interested in the topic and seemed to learn a lot of facts that they weren't aware of before. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://soapboxscience.org/soapbox-science-2018-norwich |
| Description | Engagement with the university of Italy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Visit in the university of Italy, Parma and knowledge exchange through oral presentations from both students studied in Italy and students from Quadram Institute Bioscience in Norwich. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |