Regeneration rewired: unlocking the secrets of the spiny mouse to boost human skin cell migration, proliferation and plasticity
Grantee: Sofia Ferreira Gonzalez, Chancellor's fellow, University of Edinburgh
Amount: DKK 3,944,849
Grant category: Serendipity Grants
Year: 2025
Geography: United Kingdom
Skin fibrosis is often a sequela of suboptimal wound healing following significant epidermal and/or dermal injury (burns, trauma, major surgeries). Fibrotic material replaces native skin with dense, non-functional connective tissue, ultimately resulting in loss of function and – in the most severe cases – leading to debilitating skin pathologies that limit movement and prevent patient reintegration into society. Ferreira’s lab hosts the only colony of spiny mouse in the UK (Acomys cahirinus). The spiny is, to date, the only mammal capable of completely regenerating skin wounds with minimal scarring following self-amputation. Sofia Ferreira Gonzalez is currently exploring the contribution of different dermal populations to this fibrosis-free wound healing.
Unexpectedly, Sofia Ferreira Gonzalez and colleagues found that spiny dermal fibroblasts have a highly plastic phenotype and are able to convert to many other cell types (neurons, myocytes, chondrocytes). Moreover, they found that spiny fibroblasts secrete factors that enhance migration and proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts and protect them from cellular senescence. Sofia Ferreira Gonzalez aims now to explore these results, defining which mechanisms drive plasticity, migration and proliferation in spiny fibroblasts and adapting them to human fibroblasts. By doing so, Sofia Ferreira Gonzalez aims to establish a radically new approach to skin trauma focused on stimulating tissue regeneration rather than suppressing fibrosis, which has the potential to revolutionize both care and patient outcomes.
Deep phenotyping of T regulatory cells in psoriatic arthritis highlights targetable mechanisms of disease
Grantee: Shoba Amarnath, Reader in Immune Regulation, Newcastle University
Amount: DKK 2,094,632
Grant category: Serendipity Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: United Kingdom
Shoba Amarnath’s project will investigate an unexpected link between regulatory T cells and the development of psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
In Shoba Amarnath’s original studies, based on her LEO Foundation Award in 2019, she sought to understand the role of immune cells in melanoma. As part of these investigations and to compare immune responses between cancer and autoimmunity, Shoba serendipitously found, through single-cell RNA and protein level analysis, that regulatory T cell (Treg) communication pathways with unconventional immune cells were significantly disrupted in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). This unbiased deep phenotyping specifically revealed a novel Treg specific regulatory mechanism in autoimmunity, especially crosstalk with osteoclast precursors (OCPs). It also has identified new targetable proteins in diseases where there is significant bone loss.