Dr Rob Wilkinson
Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences
We research how the leakiness, or permeability, of blood vessels in the brain are controlled so that we can identify new ways to treat diseases where these vessels become leaky. Blood vessels transport fluids and cells around our body. To do this effectively, the ability of substances, including liquids and cells, to pass through blood vessels, or permeability, must be tightly controlled to prevent leakage. Blood vessels within the brain are unique because they are the least leaky of all vessels within the body and so form a barrier between the circulating blood and the brain known as the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB protects the brain from substances in the blood which could damage it, or could cause brain infection, while allowing important nutrients to reach the brain. In many diseases such as diabetes and stroke, increased blood vessel permeability within the brain causes damage or build-up of fluid that induces swelling. We use zebrafish to understand how blood vessel leakiness is controlled since we can label blood vessels fluorescently. This allows us to observe vessel leakiness in a living organism. Importantly, zebrafish and humans share many of the signals and mechanisms which control blood vessel leakiness.
N3Centre Research Interests
Understanding neural mechanisms
Current projects
Project title: Understanding suppression of transcytosis in formation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and how Calcrl/Ramp2 signalling limits BBB permeability
Funding: £625K, Medical Research Council
Key Publications
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Chhabria,K., Vouros, A., Gray, C., MacDonald, R.B., Jiang, Z., Wilkinson, R.N., Plant, K., Vasilaki, E., Howarth, C., Chico T.J.A.,Sodium nitroprusside prevents the detrimental effects of glucose on the neurovascular unit and behaviour in zebrafish DMM 2019 12 dmm039867 doi: 10.1242/dmm.039867
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Kugler E., van Lessen, M., Daetwyler S., Chhabria K., Savage A.M., Silva, V., Plant, K., MacDonald, R., Huisken J., Wilkinson R.N., Schulte-Merker, S., Armitage P.A., Chico T.J.A. Cerebrovascular endothelial cells form transient Notch‐dependent cystic structures in zebrafish. EMBO Rep. 2019 Jun 18. pii: e47047. doi: 10.15252/embr.20184704
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Savage, A.M., Kurusamy, S., Chen., Y, Jiang, Z., Kim, H.R., Wilson H.L., van Eeden F.J.M., Armesilla A.L., Chico T.J.A., Wilkinson R.N. tmem33 is essential for VEGF-mediated endothelial calcium oscillations and angiogenesis. Nature Communications 2019 10:732 doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-08590-7
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Chhabria K., Plant K., Bandmann O.,Wilkinson R.N., Martin C., Kugler E, Armitage P, Santoscoy P.L.M, Cunliffe V.T, Howarth C., Chico T.J.A. The effect of hyperglycaemia on neurovascular coupling and cerebrovascular patterning in zebrafish. Journal of Cerebral Bloodflow and Metabolism 2018 10.1177/0271678X18810615
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