Almost a quarter of a million pounds has been awarded to a team of scientists at Sheffield Hallam University to develop a new technique that will reduce the need for animal testing in pre-clinical research projects.
The team has been given £244,045 to develop its Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) technology to provide quantitative analysis of the level of protein found in biological tissue.
In previous projects that looked at the level of protein change in tumours following the administration of anti-cancer drugs, Sheffield Hallam researchers found that there was a need to be able to measure the change in protein levels to allow clinicians to have an accurate picture of how tumours respond to treatment.
While conventional analysis can only quantify a small number of proteins, MSI is a powerful tool that is used to map different molecules within tissue sections and can produce multiple images of protein responses to medical treatments.
Leading the team, Professor Malcolm Clench of the University’s Biomedical Research Centre, said: “If we were to study the activity of 50 proteins within tissue, under the usual method, you would need around 25 mice for testing but by using mass spectrometry imaging, only one mouse would be needed.
“We’ve had some exceptional feedback from the reviewers and this new funding will help us to improve the accuracy of the data it will produce and we can then look to introduce it into pre-clinical testing on a global scale.”
Sheffield Hallam is one of only five institutions in the country to have been awarded the funding by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) in collaboration with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
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