Although it continues to promote the science of microscopical localisation of substances in cells and tissues, it is now focused on cell biological aspects of the subject. The special interests of the section include the use of the microscope to study the behaviour of cells and the behaviour of ions, molecules and organaelles within living cells. The Section has two aims: 1) To provide an interdisciplinary forum to promote the use and advancement of microscopy in cell biology. This includes the imaging and quantification of the structure, location and composition of components important to cell behaviour. 2) To represent the interests of those using the microscope for cell biology in the UK and internationally by liaising with National and International Societies with similar and overlapping objectives.
Areas in which the Section have a strong interest include:
- The study of living cells, either expressing recombinant fluorescent probes (e.g. the green fluorescent protein) or loaded with vital fluorescent dyes (e.g. ion-sensitive dyes), in order to analyse molecular and organelle dynamics and signalling events.
- The exploitation of established and emerging imaging and quantification techniques involving conventional microscopy, confocal microscopy, low light detection and multi-photon microscopy, together with newer imaging methods such as FRET, BRET, FLIM, FRAP and FLAP; and the use of a range of microscopically useful probes including fluorescent and bioluminescent ion indicators, fluorescent protein-based biosensors, FlaSh probes, nanodots and nanoprobes.
- Localisation of nucleic acids using labelled probes (in situ hybridisation) and enzymes by their actions on artificially applied substrates (enzyme histochemistry).
- Identification of cell constituents with visually-detectable labelled antibody/antigen reactions (immunocytochemistry)
meetings, courses and workshops
The Section organises meetings, courses and workshops throughout the year to encourage education and discussion both on theoretical and applied aspects of the use of microscopy as it relates to cell biology and its interface with molecular biology. The Cell Imaging Techniques Course takes place every September at Oxford Brookes University.
Committee Chair
Prof. Michelle Peckham, University of Leeds, UK
Michelle is Professor of Cell Biology in the Faculty of Biological Sciences. She obtained a BA in Physiology of Organisms at the University of York, and a PhD in Physiology at University College London. She moved to King's College London, and started to use a specialised form of light microscopy (birefringence) to investigate muscle crossbridge orientation. She then worked at UCSF, San Francisco for a year, where she used fluorescence polarisation to investigate muscle crossbridges. She moved back to the UK, to the University of York, to work on insect flight muscle. In 1990 she was awarded a Royal Society University Research fellowship, based at King's College London, and began working on the cell and molecular biology of muscle development, and started to use live cell imaging to investigate muscle cell behaviour in cultured cells, and confocal microscopy to investigate their cytoskeleton. She collaborated with Graham Dunn to use Digitally Recorded Interference Microscopy with Automatic Phase Shifting (DRIMAPS) to investigate cell crawling behaviour. She moved to Leeds in 1997 as a Lecturer, and has continued to use a wide range of both light and electron microscopy approaches to investigate the molecular motors and the cytoskeleton.
Honorary Secretary
Dr Steve Briddon, University of Nottingham, UK
Steve is a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of Cell Signalling, School of Biomedical Sciences. His interest is in using imaging approaches to understand the molecular pharmacology and organisation of G-protein coupled receptors. These are a large family of cell surface proteins, which are targets for many currently used drugs. With a background in pharmacology and cell signalling, Steve’s focus since arriving in Nottingham in 2000 has been on applying microcopical techniques, such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, confocal and wide-field fluorescence microscopy and TIRF, to study how GPCRs are compartmentalised in the cell membrane, and how this affects their pharmacology.
Members and Co-opted Members
Dr Susan Brooks, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Susan has been involved with the RMS since she was a PhD student at University College London Medical School. She has been based at Oxford Brookes University’s School of Life Sciences since 1996, where she teaches and pursues her research into cancer biology using a combination of immunohistochemistry for light and confocal microscopy and also electron microscopy. Susan has been involved for many years and in addition to being involved in the planning of a range of meetings and events has organised the annual and hugely popular ‘cell imaging techniques’ course for the past 5 years. She is also a member of the Society for Experimental Biology. Susan was Chair of the Section Committee from 2003-2007
Mr Stewart Church, Queens University Belfast, UK
Stewart manages the Bioimaging Core Techology Unit, within the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s University of Belfast. Appointed Unit Manager in 2005 he had previously spent twenty-five years in Cancer Research at QUB. This also included placements at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, the Department of Human Oncology, University of Madison and the Norris Cancer Centre, University of Southern California. A graduate of Queen's University Belfast and a Chartered Biologist he specialises in the areas of confocal microscopy, microinjection, live cell imaging, in vivo imaging and virtual microscopy.
Dr George Bou-Gharios, Imperial College London, UK
George's Group at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology study Matrix Regulation and Pathophysiology. The Extracellular Matrix (ECM) is a fundamental aspect of every tissue in the body. The focus of this group is the role of the molecules that make up and modulate this ECM in health and disease. From gene regulation to animal models with a strong emphasis on the musculoskeletal theme. The challenge is to define molecules that can be useful in translational medicine, as part of the Kennedy Institute objectives. We are particularly interested in articular cartilage and how we can improve anabolic activity in osteoarthritis.
Dr Jon Lane, University of Bristol, UK
Jon's lab is concerned with the molecular regulation of autophagy – a catabolic process that contributes to cell survival during environmental stress, and is crucial for cellular quality control through the removal of damaged organelles and protein aggregates. He established the lab in the School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol in 2003 as a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, and is now a Research Councils UK Senior Research Fellow. His lab uses a variety of imaging techniques to monitor cellular dynamics and membrane trafficking in relation to autophagy and cellular stress.
Dr Hannah Lomax-Browne, University College London, UK
Hannah works as a postdoctoral research associate in the Breast Cancer Research Group at University College London. Hannah’s work involves understanding the glycobiology of breast cancer using microscopy to image breast cancer patient samples on a regular basis. Hannah studied for her undergraduate degree in Cell and Molecular Biology at Oxford Brookes University and then went on to study the interactions between cancer cells and cells that line blood vessels for her PhD. Hannah first became involved with the RMS just before she started her PhD when she attended the RMS Cell Imaging Techniques Course. Hannah relied on microscopy heavily throughout her PhD – light, fluorescence, confocal and electron microscopy - and has remained involved with RMS since, volunteering at the last three MICROSCIENCE's.
Prof. Nick Read, University of Edinburgh, UK
Nick is a Professor of Fungal Cell Biology and leads the Fungal Cell Biology group in the Institute of Cell Biology. The main focus of his research is on developmental pathways resulting from spore germination and the early stages of colony establishment in the fungal model Neurospora crassa and the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Much of the research involves analysing living cells using a wide range of advanced imaging and measurement techniques. His group is integrating these live-cell techniques with genetical and physiological studies, with emphasis on interdisciplinary research and systems biology. Nick has served on various RMS committees and RMS Council over the last 25 years.
Dr Peter Rosenthal, NIMR, UK
Dr John Runions, Oxford Brookes University, UK
John is a Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University. His work is primarily in plant cell biology and he uses fluorescent-protein based strategies for studying membrane protein interactions. This has recently allowed him to utilise some very cutting edge microscopy equipment such as multiphoton lasers for doing TIRF, FRET-FLIM and photoactivation experiments. As a student, Postdoctoral researcher and Research Fellow, John has always been a microscopist first. The research projects he has been involved in have been on diverse organisms, from trees to brains, and have involved many types of microscopy. John feels that no matter what your area of interest as a biologist, you will always benefit if you look through a microscope at the organism or tissue that you study.
Prof. Jason Swedlow, University of Dundee, UK
Jason earned a BA in Chemistry from Brandeis University in and PhD in Biophysics from UCSF. After a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF and then Harvard Medical School, Jason established his own laboratory in 1998 at the Wellcome Trust Biocentre, University of Dundee, as a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow. He was awarded a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship in 2002 and named Professor of Quantitative Cell Biology in 2007. His lab focuses on studies of mitotic chromosome structure and dynamics and has published numerous leading papers in the field. He is co founder of the Open Microscopy Environment, a community led open source software project that develops specifications and tools for biological imaging and participates as Faculty and Co Director of the Analytical and Quantitative Microscopy Course at MBL.
Dr Theresa Ward, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
Theresa teaches on the MSc Immunology of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and is an active RMS member. She obtained her first degree in Biochemistry and Genetics from Nottingham University and her DPhil from the University of Sussex where she studied membrane trafficking in fission yeast. She then worked in the laboratory of Dr Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz at the National Institute of Health in the USA. She was awarded a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship in 2002. Her particular interest is in integrating confocal microsocopy technology and advanced cell and biological techniques to investigate the processes involved in B cell activation and proliferation.
Dr Claire Wells, King’s College London, UK
Claire's laboratory is interested in how cancer cells are able to dissociate from the primary tumour, invade the surrounding tissue and subsequently metastasise to distal sites. They use a lot of microscopy in the work, including confocal, TIRF and FRET in addition to live cell imaging to investigate the role of PAK family kinases in cancer cell migration, adhesion and invasion. Claire will co-organise the next RMS: Abercrombie meeting, Oxford 2012 and is the life sciences representative on the RMS outreach committee. She has been working with local primary school children bringing microscopy into the classroom and is part of the AMFES primary school sub committee.
annual general meeting
The AGM of the Life Sciences Section was held on Tuesday 20th September 2011 in Manchester. View the Minutes of the2011 Life Sciences Section AGM.
