Radiation Effects

We have areas of expertise and capability in the following:

Cellular biology

Cytogenetics

Set up, culture and fixation of human blood samples for the dicentric chromosome assay (DCA) and the micronucleus assay (MNA)
Single colour fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for the translocation assay
Gamma-H2AX foci assay
Premature chromosome condensation assay (PCC)
Production of in-vitro dose response curves
Automated scoring for the DCA and MNA
Biological dosimetry statistics / software
Interpretation of biodosimetric assay results
International networking for emergency preparedness and response
Training in biological dosimetry assays

Irradiation facilities: 250 kVp X-irradiator and access to other radiation energies and qualities
Set up and culture of human cell lines e.g. CHO cells and lens epithelial cells
Isolation and staining of lens epithelium for DNA damage, cell proliferation and morphology analyses
Scheimpflug imaging for analysis of lens opacification
In vivo models of gastoinstestinal carcinogenesis including tumour scoring and sizing capabilities, and for lens effects
Pathological services including the histopathological preparation of tumour material using wax embedding or frozen sections for pathological examination and automated staining of slides for routine stains e.g. H&E, PAS, Masson's trichrome
Immunohistochemical staining of sections for DNA damage foci using γ-H2AX and 53BP1
Pathological diagnosis of murine tumours including immunohistochemical staining of sections for tumour differentiation e.g. myeloperoxidase, CD3, β-catenin, Apc etc
Laser microdissection of sections of tumour material for subsequent DNA anaylsis for genetic losses

Cancer Mechanisms and Biomarkers

Set-up and culture of human and mouse leukaemia cell lines
primary cells differentiation and characterization assays
hematopoietic stem cell and extra cellular vesicles isolation; cell sorting, flow-cytometry based cell characterisation and cycle analyses
DNA damage analyses
cell transfection
In vivo models of leukaemia
molecular biology techniques (cloning, PCR, SYBR Green-based and multiplex quantitative PCR, mutagenesis, FISH, CGH arrays and CRISP-CAS9 system for genome editing)
molecular analyses of DNA mutations as well as site-specific and genome wide methylation
single cell analyses and detection of extremely rare mutations shift in gene expression by digital PCR and pyrosequencing
Gene expression using various techniques (multiplex qPCR and Ncounter)
micro RNA content analyses

Physiology and Neurology

spatial and other mazes to test cognitive function
equipment to monitor and record animal behavior automatically and non-invasively in a home cage
implantable physiological sensors
exposure equipment to allow controlled well-defined exposure to magnetic fields (from 0 to 300 Hz) at up to 600 μT, and head-only and whole body exposures to 900 or 1800 MHz fields.
a system capable of delivery diagnostic ultrasound to pregnant animals.
genetic analyser capable of assessing gene expression and fragment analysis.

Radiation Epidemiology

Expertise in statistics as applied to epidemiology
Access to major UK radiation epidemiological cohorts, notably for occupational exposure
Statistical analysis and interpretation for radiobiological studies
Advice on low and high dose radiation health risks and effects

Expertise