Lloyd Steele-Nicholson is a postgraduate research student in Biological Science at the University of Southampton.
2019-Present: PhD in Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, UK.
2018-2019: MSc in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Queen’s University Belfast, UK.
2013-2017: BA (moderatorship) in Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, IRE.
The low regenerative capacity of mature neurons in the adult central nervous system (CNS) represents a significant barrier to recovery following spinal cord injury. The aim of my PhD project is to use integrins to enhance the regeneration of CNS neurons in the context of spinal cord injury. Integrins are transmembrane receptors that bind to ligands that are present in the extracellular matrix. Ligand binding triggers intracellular signalling cascades that can influence cellular migration and growth. The forced expression of certain integrins in adult mouse CNS neurons can enhance axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury.
Unfortunately, integrins are excluded from the axon of mature neurons in the CNS limiting their proregenerative effect. I am investigating novel techniques to overcome their exclusion from the axon in adult neurons in the CNS. These techniques include modifying integrins to enhance their trafficking into the axon and using exosomes to deliver integrins directly to the axon.
PhD research: Enhancing integrin-mediated nervous system regeneration.
Supervisors: Dr Melissa Andrews & Dr David Tumbarello
Funding agencies: The Gerald Kerkut Charitable Trust and Biological Sciences, University of Southampton
Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
Health and Safety officer for Biological Sciences Postgraduate Society 2020-’21.