Catherine Berry

Biography

Catherine is a lecturer in the Centre for Cell Engineering in the University of Glasgow. Following her PhD at Queen Mary, University of London, was focused on tissue and bioengineering, she started in Glasgow in 2002, focusing on the use of inorganic nanoparticles for cell imaging and as delivery vehicles in cell culture models. A range of her current projects include (i) the use of an external magnetic field to increase cell loading with magnetic nanoparticles for higher transfection efficacies, both in monolayer and 3-D cell culture models; (ii) manipulation of magnetic particles loaded MSCs & HSCs in 3-D culture to recreate a niche model system; (iii) a 3-D model for magnetic hyperthermia testing for cancer treatment; (iv) the knockdown of cell proliferation genes in cancer cells via gold nanoparticle mediated siNRA delivery; (v) the manipulation of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation via gold nanoparticle mediated inhibitors of crucial microRNAs.

Research Interest

A strong and promising role for nanoparticles is foreseen in future biomedicine. Catherine’s current projects focus on using either magnetic NPs or gold NPs for applications in biomedicine. Both types of NP are regarded as safe for use in vivo, and benefit from their ease of synthesis and functionalisation, in addition to conferring useful optical and physical properties. Current magnetic NP projects include (i) the use of an external magnetic field to increase cell loading with magnetic nanoparticles for higher transfection efficacies, both in monolayer and 3-D cell culture models (figure 1); (ii) manipulation of magnetic particles loaded mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in 3-D culture to recreate a niche model system (figure 2); (iii) a 3-D model for magnetic hyperthermia testing for cancer treatment; (iv) cross transfer of magnetic NPs to naïve cell populations (leading to false positives in MRI scans). Current gold NP projects focus on the delivery of small molecules to cells, including (i) the knockdown of cell proliferation genes in cancer cells via gold NP mediated siNRA delivery (figure 3); (ii) the manipulation of MSC differentiation via gold NP mediated inhibitors of crucial microRNAs.