The dramatic global impact of the coronavirus pandemic has increased consideration on epidemiological progressions of pandemics. Measures implemented to reduce viral transmission have been largely historical, comparable in nature with the 1918 and 2009 influenza pandemics, demonstrating the importance of clinicians’ awareness on historical pandemics.

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Out of the five Warwick academics named in the 2023 Highly Cited Researcher list, we are delighted that three work at Warwick Medical School. Congratulations to Prof Sophie Staniszewska, Prof Jerry Nolan and Prof Dieter Wolke (joint appointment with the Department of Psychology).

A new study by Warwick Medical School working with the Society for Acute Medicine has found that younger patients with simpler problems are waiting less time for assessments than frail patients with complex care needs.

Liver hepatocytes are the front-line cells for screening new compounds for toxicity. However, hepatocytes are stored frozen in vials, not in monolayers meaning they need substantial processing to be ‘usable’ especially for high throughput screening. To solve this the Gibson and Dallman groups have collaborated, so show that immortalised and primary hepatocytes can be cryopreserved whilst attached to 96 well microplates. These can then be taken from the freezer, and simple thawed and are ready to use in under 24 hours. Post-thaw the cells show equal performance to fresh. This was achieved by careful consideration of the molecular mechanism damage during freezing, with the team using patent-pending controlled ice nucleation technology, rather than a traditional re-formulation of cryoprotectants approach. This work was in collaboration with Cryologyx, a University of Warwick Spin out, which has commercialised aspects of this technology.  
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Trafficking of proteins, lipids, and other molecules between cellular compartments is carried out by vesicular carriers. Material destined for transfer is packaged into a small trafficking vesicle at the donor compartment; the vesicle must then travel to its destination, before fusing with the target compartment to deliver the material.

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Pumpkins make their appearance every Halloween, swiftly disappearing for the next year, but scientists believe we are over-looking their health benefits. Researchers at WMS are keen to share the positive impact pumpkins can have on our health and wellbeing – which range from aiding weight loss, improving skin and even reducing risk of cancer.

The latest release of UK Foundation Programme Office data from 2021 reveals that our MB ChB finalists performed very strongly in their applications to the Foundation Programme, with 98.59% being allocated to one of their top 5 choices. This was the second highest rate in the UK.

Last month, the Met Office reported that July was the UK’s sixth wettest on record, and unsurprisingly the UK had 19% fewer hours of sunshine than average over the month, with 140.3 hours in total.

Researchers at Warwick Medical School say that light is the most important environmental cue for synchronising our biological clock and regulating sleep, which if interrupted can have a detrimental effect on our mood and wellbeing.

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Our 2023 Summer Graduation took place on Thursday 20 July, celebrating the fantastic achievements of our very first cohort of undergraduate BSc Health & Medical Sciences students, our MB ChB, Master's and PhD students.

Find out more.

Dr John James' lab have used a cellular reconstitution of preTCR function to investigate the trafficking dynamics of this developmentally important immune receptor, work which has just been published in the Journal of Cell Biology.

Expression of the pre-T cell receptor (preTCR) is an important checkpoint during the development of T cells, an essential cell type of our adaptive immune system. The preTCR complex is only transiently expressed and rapidly internalized in developing T cells and is thought to signal in a ligand-independent manner. However, identifying a mechanistic basis for these unique features of the preTCR compared with the final TCR complex has been confounded by the concomitant signaling that is normally present. Thus, we have reconstituted preTCR expression in non-immune cells to uncouple receptor trafficking dynamics from its associated signaling. We find that all the defining features of the preTCR are intrinsic properties of the receptor itself, driven by exposure of an extracellular hydrophobic region, and are not the consequence of receptor activation. Finally, we show that transitory preTCR cell surface expression can sustain tonic signaling in the absence of ligand binding, suggesting how the preTCR can nonetheless drive αβTCR lineage commitment.

Read the paper here.

Advanced cell-based therapies are often delivered to the patient frozen. Hence, any technology which increases the number of recovered, viable, cells post-thaw may improve clinical outcomes or allow more treatments per donation. The GibsonGroup have previously shown strategies to protect cells during freezing. In this latest work, in collaboration with Cytiva, the team show that incubating a model t-cell line with proline before cryopreservation leads to increased post-thaw cell yields. All proline is removed before cryopreservation so the actual freezing and thawing processes are unchanged. It was shown that proline limits cell proliferation, which might be contributing to its mode of action similar to ‘metabolic pre-conditioning’ which has been shown before.

Read the paper here.

Glycans (sugars) dictate cell-cell communication, are sites for pathogen invasion and are a key part of our immune systems. Current synthetic platforms to display glycans to investigate their biology almost always are imperfect, with heterogeneity in terms of number of glycans and the synthesis is not reproducible batch to batch. The Gibson and Ward (chemistry) groups have collaborated on a Leverhulme-Trust funded project to create ‘programmable’ glyco-clusters - before entering the lab, this method enables a research to know exactly how many glycans and their 3-D location are present on a material, and gives zero heterogeneity. This is achieved using metal co-ordination cages - 3D structures formed by spontaneous self-assembly. The team used these with model glycan-binding proteins to identify key interactions which would not be possible with traditional materials. The team are now using this to interrogate a range of targets including toxins, for diagnostics.

Read the paper here.

Spheroids (and organoids) can reproduce key aspects of human biological responses, and since the FDA simplification act it is possible (in some cases) to bypass animal testing in the development of new drugs where quality tissue models exist. However, these are not accessible ‘off the shelf’ so are not widely used, with monolayer culture then animal studies common. The GibsonGroup working with the WhaleGroup have recently shown how controlled nucleation (making ice form) can actually improve cryopreservation outcomes by reducing intracellular ice formation. In this latest work they combine nucleation with proline-pre conditioning which ‘prepares’ cells for cryopreservation. This shows how joined-up thinking of cryopreservation as a biochemical and biophysical problem can make a major impact on cell-storage platform technologies.

Read the paper here.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Nigel Stallard is appointed as the new Director of Warwick Clinical Trials Unit. Read the full news item here

Bacteriophage (phage) are present wherever their bacteria hosts are. Phage have huge biotechnological potential, but lytic phages can also cause complete loss of bacterial cultures. For example in the food industry, or in every research laboratory, where rigorous sterile handing is the primary containment strategy. For industrial biotechnology using microorganisms to enable sustainable of chemicals, materials and drugs, phage infection must be addressed. In our latest (patent pending) work, in collaboration with the SagonaLab at Warwick, and Cytiva, we discovered that a simple polymer can prevent phage infection of bacteria when applied to the growth media. This process is simple, requires no change to working practises and prevents phage infections. We are still investigating the mechanistic aspects, but this is virustatic (inhibitory) rather than virucidal.

Read the press release here.
Read the paper here.

The biology of a cell is the sum of many highly dynamic processes, each orchestrated by a plethora of proteins and other molecules.

Microscopy is an invaluable approach to spatially and temporally dissect the molecular details of these processes. Hundreds of genetically encoded imaging tools have been developed that allow cell scientists to determine the function of a protein of interest in the context of these dynamic processes. Broadly, these tools fall into three strategies: observation, inhibition and activation. Using examples for each strategy, in this Cell Science at a Glance and the accompanying poster, we provide a guide to using these tools to dissect protein function in a given cellular process. Our focus here is on tools that allow rapid modification of proteins of interest and how observing the resulting changes in cell states is key to unlocking dynamic cell processes. The aim is to inspire the reader's next set of imaging experiments.

Read the paper here.

Graduands from around the World and their families gathered on Saturday 1 April at University of Warwick to enjoy a truly wonderful event celebrating the first cohort of students graduating from Warwick-iheed partnership programmes.

The ceremony was presided over by the University of Warwick Vice Chancellor Stuart Croft alongside several iheed colleagues including CEO and Founder Tom O’Callaghan. The event celebrated the hard work, dedication and achievement of the students, but also created an opportunity to celebrate the success of the partnership itself - To read the full news item click here

Dr Timothy Saunders and team have been awarded almost £300,000 by the British Heart foundation to study Fruit Fly Hearts!

Read more here:
Fruit fly helps Warwick scientists understand human heart development - BHF

The NHS is investing £490,400 to help universities in the Midlands establish Schwartz Rounds for their health and social care students and staff. Fourteen Midlands-based universities have accepted the offer to begin working with the Point of Care Foundation to establish Schwartz Rounds, and Warwick Medical School has been named as the midlands hub university. To find out more about Schwartz Rounds and read the full news item click here.

Professor Amy Grove has been appointed as the new Head of Division for Health Sciences at Warwick Medical School following a competitive process. She will start her new role on 3 April. Read more about Amy, and the full news piece here.

A sleeping sickness parasite is the first pathogen to have its proteins located and mapped within its cells. These parasites have made large areas of Africa unsuitable for livestock production, costing rural farmers up to £3.7bn each year.

For the first time ever, scientists have developed a detailed “protein atlas” of a pathogen – a kind of biological map that locates proteins in cells. They conducted the research on Trypanosoma brucei (T. brucei), helping to understand where proteins are within its cells, providing functional insights that may ultimately help treat parasite infections.

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Access the resource here and read the full paper here.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a small proportion of infected individuals. The immune system plays an important role in the defence against SARS-CoV-2, but our understanding of the cellular immune parameters that contribute to severe COVID-19 disease is incomplete. Here, we show that populations of human effector γδ T cells are associated with acute COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients. We found that circulating killer-type γδ T cells were enriched in COVID-19 patients with acute disease. Surprisingly, SARS-CoV-2 infection did not alter the γδ T cell receptor repertoire, like in other viral infections. Thus, our work demonstrates a link between the systemic activation of effector populations of γδ T cells and acute COVID-19 in unvaccinated individuals.

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