BBSRC Strategic Research Studentship: Role of amino acid transport system A in mammalian physiology and disease

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A functional placenta is of vital importance for a successful pregnancy. Nutrients from mum reach the fetus after crossing the placenta. Transporter proteins are located at both maternal and fetal membranes in the placenta and allow for the rapid transfer of the fuel molecules that the baby needs for optimal growth (examples are amino-acids and glucose). We are interested in finding out how transporters of small neutral amino-acids work in the placenta. We hypothesize that these transporters, which are called System A, are important for providing the baby with appropriate amounts of amino-acids. We will be using elegant chromosome engineering techniques to generate mice that lack these proteins specifically in the placenta and assess the effects on fetal growth. We will also study how the deficiency in these amino-acid transporters affects the behaviour and growth of cells cultured in vitro.

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