Real-time cell activity

researchers have developed a technology that will allow scientists to look at microscopic activity within the body’s chemical messenger system in real-time.

The laser technology has helped to attract £1.3m from the Medical Research Council (MRC) for a five-year project that will offer a new insight into activities taking place within single cells and could contribute to the design of drugs to treat diseases such as asthma and arthritis.

The team, involving Prof Steve Hill and Dr Steve Briddon from the university’s School of Biomedical Science, and Dr Barrie Kellam from the School of Pharmacy, is concentrating on a type of specialised docking site (receptor) on the surface of a cell that recognises and responds to adenosine, a chemical that occurs naturally within the body.

These A3-adenosine receptors work within the body by binding with proteins to cause a response within cells and are found in a cell membrane called microdomains. Microdomains contain a collection of different molecules that are involved in telling the cell how to respond to drugs or hormones.