Fully-funded PhD - How do force sensing proteins contribute to the progression of liver fibrosis?

Chronic liver disease is associated with obesity and ageing, and results in liver fibrosis (scarring) that can be fatal. As fibrosis progresses, the liver’s mechanical properties change, with an increase in tissue stiffness due to an excessive production of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins made by pro-fibrotic cells. Different cell types of the liver, such as hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells, are subjected to increased tissue stiffness, which has a negative impact on their normal function, driving fibrotic processes.

Cells respond to extracellular rigidity through a process called mechanotransduction where physical conditions outside a cell are converted into biochemical signals. Integrins are important cell-ECM receptors that have a role in mechanotransduction that work through the formation of a protein complex called the adhesome.

This project will use biochemical and cell biology approaches to study liver cell adhesomes and ask how cell-ECM mechanotransduction signalling contributes to liver fibrosis. Techniques used will include molecular biology, mammalian cell culture and transfection/transduction, qPCR, immunofluorescence staining and microscopy, western blotting, biochemical affinity-enrichment with proteomics sample preparation and bioinformatic data analyses.

The successful applicant will join our vibrant Doctoral College Community and be based in the new £117million Dalton Building in the heart of Manchester. 

Project aims and objectives

This project will define the role of cell-ECM mechanotransduction and signalling in liver fibrosis. This will be achieved using biochemical and cell biology approaches to study the role of cell-ECM adhesion systems in relevant cell models of liver disease.

Our objectives are to:

Define hepatic stellate cell and hepatocyte adhesomes.
Identify mechanosensory adhesome protein interactions in hepatic stellate cells and hepatocytes.