John Whitelock
  1. Current research activities

    2. My research interests cover extracellular matrix and its interactions with growth factors and the way in which these interactions affect cell behaviour. In essence these molecules can act as natural growth factor delivery vehicles and have potential uses as components of active biomatrices in various tissue engineering applications. My tissue engineering activities are currently focused on the use of heparan sulfate proteoglycans to control the phenotype of cultured chondrocytes, which has relevance to the autologous chondrocyte transfer market that is very active in the tissue engineering field.

    An important component that controls this phenotype is the nature and type of heparan sulfate present because the glycosylation on these molecules controls the growth factor interactions. I am particularly interested in the analysis and sequencing of heparan sulfate which is critical to the binding of the heparin-binding growth factors like FGFs, VEGFs, and many other cytokines. Recently, I have initiated a glycoproteomics project (relevant to tissue engineering) that will use mass spectrometry to elucidate the glycosaminoglycan structure and link it with functional biological assays to map the function. This will provide new information on the potential of these molecules in biomatrices as well as glycomimetics as new therapeutics.

  2. Keywords

    3. extracellular matrix, proteoglycans, growth factors, heparan sulfate, sequencing.

  3. End-user applications

    • Biomatrices to control cell phenotype
    • Chondrocyte transfer
    • Stem cell phenotype modulation
    • Biomarker identification

  4. Key publications

    5. I. Melrose J., Smith, S., Knox, S. and Whitelock, J. (2002) Perlecan, the multidomain HS-proteoglycan of basement membranes, is a prominent pericellular component of ovine hypertrophic vertebral growth plate and cartilaginous endplate chondrocytes. Histochem. Cell Biol. 118 269 – 280.
    II. Underwood, P.A., Whitelock, J.M., Bean, P.A., Steele, J.G. (2002) Effects of base material, plasma proteins and FGF2 on endothelial cell adhesion and growth. J. Biomater. Sci. Polym. Ed. 13 845 – 862.
    III. Knox, S.M., Merry, C.M., Stringer, S.E., Melrose, J. and Whitelock, J.M. (2002) Not all perlecans are created equal: Interactions with fibroblast growth factors and their receptors. J.Biol.Chem.277 14657 - 14665.
    IV. Knox, S., Melrose, J. and Whitelock, J. (2001) Electrophoretic, biosensor and bioactivity analysis of perlecans of different cellular origins. Proteomics 1 1534 – 1541.
    V. Underwood, P. A., Bean, P. A., Mitchell, S. M. & Whitelock, J. M. (2001) Specific Affinity depletion of cell adhesion molecules and growth factors from serum. J. Immunol. Meth. 247 217 – 226.

  5. Outreach activities

    6. Not as yet.

  6. Key organisation membership

    7. STEAM

  7. Early career researcher?

    8. No

  8. Young investigator?

    9. Yes

  9. Skills and expertise

    • biochemistry
    • commercialisation
    • antibody generation and characterisation
    • patent scanning and drafting
    • mass spectrometry
    • business administration
    • tissue culture
    • event organising
    • written and oral communication
    • sponsorship negotiation
    • business negotiation

  10. Specialist equipment and infrastructure

    • Glycoproteomic analytical tools including
      • LCQ Deca, electro-spray, ion- trap mass spectrometer
      • GlycomIQ and Glycosuite databases via Proteome Systems Ltd

© 2004

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