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Dr Alison Loughlin

Senior Lecturer In Biology

School of Life, Health & Chemical Sciences

Jane.Loughlin@open.ac.uk

01908652829

Biography

Professional biography

I graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from University of Bristol in 1989 and completed a PhD on the role of microglia in multiple sclerosis at the Institute of Neurology (UCL) in 1993. After a series of post-doctoral research positions at the Institute of Neurology, University of Kent and University of Oxford, I joined the Open University in 1999 as a research lecturer and became a senior lecturer in 2005. 

Other roles: LHCS Director of Teaching

 

Research interests

Educational research interests:

  • closing awarding gaps
  • student peer support
  • assessment design

Laboratory research interests:

  • oligodendrocyte and myelin biology
  • CNS demyelinating conditions and neuroinflammation
  • microglial cell biology
  • hypoxia /ischaemia and white matter injury
  • membrane lipid rafts
  • using 3-dimensional tissue culture systems to model complex tissues and cellular organisation
  • 3-dimensional neural cell culture models

Teaching interests

  • Teaching in the areas of biochemistry and cell biology.
  • Use of virtual onscreen experiments to support and enhance laboratory practicals.
  • Accessibility of teaching materials and processes
  • Current modules: S296 (Cell and Molecular Biology)

Publications

Journal Article

Tissue distribution and cellular localization of gold nanocarriers with bound oligonucleotides (2021)

Microscopic biophysical model of self-organization in tissue due to feedback between cell- and macroscopic-scale forces (2020)

Cerebrospinal fluid dynamics modulation by diet and cytokines in rats. (2020)

Gold nanocarriers for transport of oligonucleotides across brain endothelial cells (2020)

Adapting tissue-engineered in vitro CNS models for high-throughput study of neurodegeneration (2017)

Optimising contraction and alignment of cellular collagen hydrogels to achieve reliable and consistent engineered anisotropic tissue (2015)

Engineered neural tissue with aligned, differentiated adipose-derived stem cells promotes peripheral nerve regeneration across a critical sized defect in rat sciatic nerve. (2015)

A 3D in vitro model reveals differences in the astrocyte response elicited by potential stem cell therapies for CNS injury. (2013)

Engineered neural tissue for peripheral nerve repair (2013)

Fuelling an immune response: an ultrastructural study of immune-stimulated lymph nodes (2013)

Polarized P-glycoprotein expression by the immortalised human brain endothelial cell line, hCMEC/D3, restricts apical-to-basolateral permeability to rhodamine 123 (2009)

P-glycoprotein and breast cancer resistance protein restrict apical-to-basolateral permeability of human brain endothelium to amyloid-β (2009)

Developing a 3D culture model of CNS myelination (2009)

Chemokine production and chemokine receptor expression by human glioma cells: Role of CXCL10 in tumour cell proliferation (2008)

Culture and differentiation of preadipocytes in two-dimensional and three-dimensional in vitro systems (2007)

Regulation of chemokine receptor expression in human microglia and astrocytes (2003)

Characterization of the Mammalian Initiation Factor eIF2B Complex as a GDP Dissociation Stimulator Protein (2001)

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5 (eIF5) acts as a classical GTPase-activator protein (2001)

Regulation of eukaryotic initiation factor eIF2B: glycogen synthase kinase-3 phosphorylates a conserved serine which undergoes dephosphorylation in response to insulin (1998)

Myelination and remyelination of aggregate rat brain cell cultures enriched with macrophages (1997)

The expression of tissue-type plasminogen activator, matrix metalloproteases and endogenous inhibitors in the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis: comparison of stages in lesion evolution (1996)

Inhibitory effect of interferon-gamma on LPS-induced interleukin 1 beta production by isolated adult rat brain microglia (1996)

The role of microglia macrophages in the processes of inflammatory demyelination and remyelination (1994)

Myelin basic protein content of aggregating rat brain cell cultures treated with cytokines and/or demyelinating antibody: effects of macrophage enrichment (1994)

Modulation of interferon-gamma-induced major histocompatibility complex class II and Fc receptor expression on isolated microglia by transforming growth factor-beta 1, interleukin-4, noradrenaline and glucocorticoids (1993)

Regulation of Fc receptor and major histocompatibility complex antigen expression on isolated rat microglia by tumour necrosis factor, interleukin-1 and lipopolysaccharide: effects on interferon-gamma induced activation (1992)

Detection of interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 in adult rat brain, following mechanical injury, by in vivo microdialysis: evidence of a role for microglia in cytokine production (1991)

Patent

Three-dimensional cell culture (2007)

Presentation / Conference

Adapting aligned, stabilised 3D tissues for large-scale neurobiological research (2014)

Development of stabilised aligned CNS co-culture technology to model the behaviour of a range of neural cell types (2014)

Adipocytes: a role in immunological memory? (2013)

Adapting aligned stabilised hydrogels to facilitate large scale drug screening and neurobiological research. (2013)

Fabrication of an endoneurium using engineered neural tissue within a peripheral nerve repair conduit (2013)

A multi-well plate model of reactive gliosis for high throughput screening of potential CNS therapies (2013)

Stabilisation of hydrogels containing neural cells to form CNS tissue models for monitoring neuronal and glial cell behaviour in vitro (2012)

A nerve repair conduit containing differentiated adipose-derived stem cells within engineered neural tissue can support and guide neuronal growth in vitro and in vivo (2012)

A living replacement tissue for peripheral nerve that can enhance regeneration in vitro and in vivo (2012)

Optimising glial cell alignment in 3D culture to facilitate the development of neural tissue models for CNS research (2012)

Engineered neural tissue with aligned Schwann cells supports neuronal regeneration in vivo and can be assembled using differentiated adipose-derived stem cells (2012)

Defining glial cell self-alignment parameters for 3D CNS tissue models (2012)

Astrocytes expressing GFP in 3D collagen gels provide an effective model for screening the glial response to potential CNS cell therapies (2012)

Developing a 3D co-culture model to simulate perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury in preterm infants (2012)

Engineered neural tissue with columns of aligned Schwann cell-like cells from differentiated adipose-derived stem cells can support and guide neuronal growth in vitro (2012)

Aligned Schwann cells within 3D tissue-like gels provide guidance to regenerating neurites (2011)

Monitoring glial cell behaviour and neuron-glial interactions in 3D hydrogel and aggregate culture systems (2011)

Aligned cellular and acellular collagen guidance substrates for peripheral nerve repair (2011)

A tissue engineered collagen conduit containing columns of aligned Schwann cells supports neuronal regeneration in vitro (2011)

Schwann cells in collagen gels survive plastic compression and maintain their alignment: development of a cellular biomaterial for peripheral nerve repair (2010)

Plastic compression of aligned cellular collagen gels for nervous system repair (2010)

Three-dimensional adipocyte cultures and co-cultures to study tissue interactions (2009)

Development of a 3D coculture system to study adipocyte and lymph node cell interactions (2006)

Development of a three-dimensional co-culture system to study adipocyte and lymph node cell interactions (2005)