Clements, Mark

Senior Lecturer Biotechnology Contact Details Telephone: 020 7911 5800 ext. 3544 Fax: 020 7911 5087 Email: M.O.Clements@westminster.ac.uk

Senior Lecturer Biotechnology

Contact Details

Telephone: 020 7911 5800 ext. 3544

Fax: 020 7911 5087

Background

Mark joined the University of Westminster in 2005 after 10 years research experience at various institutions including University College London and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

Research Interests

His current research interests are in the fields of stem cell biology and microbial pathogenicity.

Stem Cell Biology: There is great interest in the exploitation of stem cells to treat a wide range of human disease including skeletal and muscular disorders. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) are a population of cells resident in the bone marrow that have the potential to differentiate into mesenchyme tissues including bone, cartilage and fat (Figure 1). We are interested in understanding how the growth and differentiation of MSCs can be controlled with the aim of developing new strategies to produce therapeutically relevant cell types to treat a range of human diseases.

Microbial Pathogenicity: Many human diseases are the result of a complex interaction between the pathogen and its host. We are investigating how microbial pathogens communicate with host cells in order to establish an infection. Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of bacterial food-bourne diarrhoeal disease throughout the world. Despite the importance of C. jejuni, very little is known about how it interacts with the host to establish an infection. Our current research focus is on identifying novel C. jejuni proteins responsible for altering the behaviour of host cells during the process of infection.

Figure 1. Differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived from the human bone marrow. In response to specific combinations of growth factors, MSC can differentiate to adipocytes (oil red O staining of lipid droplets), osteocytes (alkaline phosphatase staining) and chondrocytes (toluidine blue staining of extracellular matrix deposition in pellet cultures).

Current Research / Ongoing Projects

Collaborations:

Dr Angray Kang (Univeristy of Westminster): Use of phage display to explore novel MSC epitopes.

Dr Caroline Smith (University of Westminster): Role of ADMA in stem cell differentiation.

Professor Adrienne Flanagan (University College London): Isolation of novel cancer stem cells.

Dr Francesc Miralles (St. Georges Hospital, London): Transcriptional regulation of the early events in MSC differentation.

Dr Andrey Karlyshev (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine): Characterisation of novel Campylobacter proteases.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Our current research activities include the development of molecular tools to manipulate the growth and differentiation of MSCs to specific cell types. Using these tools we are investigating how specific signalling pathways control MSC proliferation and differentiation.

Microbial Pathogenicity: We are using a range of molecular approaches to identify novel Campylobacter jejuni virulence factors involved in the infection process. The genetic regulation of these factors and their interaction with host cells is currently being investigated.

Selected Publications

Funes, J.M., Quintero, M., Henderson, S., Martinez, D., Qureshi, U., Westwood, C., Clements, M.O., Bourboulia, D., Pedley, R.B., Moncada, S. and C. Boshoff. 2007. Transformation of human mesenchymal stem cells increases their dependency on oxidative phosphorylation for energy production. PNAS.104:6223-8.

Westwood, C and M.O. Clements. 2007. The biology of mesenchymal stem cells. Stem Cell Repair and Regeneration Vol III. Eds. N Habib, N Levicar, M Gordon. Imperial College Press, London. In press

Vujovic, S., Henderson, S., Flannagan, A., and M.O. Clements. 2007. Inhibition of γ-secretases alters both proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. Cell Proliferation 40:185-95

Clements, M.O., Godfrey, A., Crossley, J., Wilson, S.J., Takeuchi, Y. and C. Boshoff. 2006. Lentiviral manipulation of Gene Expression in Human Adult and Embryonic Stem Cells. Tissue Engineering. 12:1741-51.

Ygberg, S.E., Clements, M.O., Rytkonen, A., Thompson, A., Holden, D.W., Hinton, J.C., and M. Rhen. 2006. Polynucleotide phosphorylase negatively controls spv virulence gene expression in Salmonella enterica. Infect Immun. 74:1243-54.

Markusen, J.F., Mason, C., Hull, D.H., Town, M.A., Tabor, A.B., Clements, M.O., Boshoff, C and P Dunnill. 2006. Characterisation of adult human mesenchymal stem cells entrapped in Alginate-GRGDY. Tissue Engineering 12:821-30.

Oreffo, R.O.C., Cooper, C., Mason, C. and M.O. Clements. 2006. Mesenchymal stem cells- Lineage, plasticity and skeletal therapeutic potential. Stem Cell Reviews 1: 169-178. Review

Clements, M. 2004. Human Embryonic Stem Cells. Brit. J. Cancer 90: 558-559. Book review

Rhen, M., Eriksson, S., Clements, M., Bergstrom, S. and S. J. Normark 2003. The basis of persistent bacterial infections. Trends Microbiol. 11:80-86 Review

Clements, M. O., Eriksson, S., Thompson, A., Lucchini, S., Hinton, J.C.D., Normark, A. and M. Rhen 2002. Polynucleotide phosphorylase is a global regulator of virulence and persistency in Salmonella enterica. PNAS 99:8784-8789.

Conference presentations or/and Other publications

Elliman, S.J., Bryson, K.,Trotter, MWB., Cellek, S., Kyriakou, C., Yong, K, Boshoff, C., M.O. Clements. Extending the lineage potential of human mesenchymal stem cells. June 2006. 1st UK Mesenchymal Stem Cell Meeting, York, UK.

Vujovic, S., Henderson, S.R., Flanagan, A.M. and M.O. Clements. Notch signalling in self-renewal and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. June 2006. 1st UK Mesenchymal Stem Cell Meeting, York, UK.

Westwood, C., Henderseon, C., Boshoff, C., Clements, M.O. Early molecular regulation of adipogenesis in human mesenchymal stem cells. Feb 2005 Keystone Symposia on Stem Cells, Baniff, Canada.

Vujovic, S., Henderson, S., Clements, M.O. Flanagan, A. Patterns of gene expression and novel factors involved in cartilage development identified through transcriptional analysis of hMSC chondrogenesis. Feb 2005 Keystone Symposia on Stem Cells, Baniff, Canada.

Elliman, SJ., Trotter, M., Henderson, S., Cellek, S., Boshoff, C., Clements, MO. Mesenchymal stem cells adopt a multipotential fate under specific culture conditions. Jan 2004 Keystone Symposia on Stem Cells, USA.

University of Westminster