High quality tools for innate immunity research and drug discovery
Option 1: Discover new anti-inflammatory agents
In this project, you will aim to screen our Phytotitre plant extract library to discover novel natural products capable of inhibiting the production of the inflammatory cytokine TNF-α from cultured macrophages. Positive hits from your project could be explored further to to help develop new anti-inflammatory drugs to treat diverse diseases.
In this project you will explore whether any of the 400 extracts of traditional herbs and medicines contained within the Phytotitre library are capable of inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by macrophages cultured in vitro.
This will be done by culturing a macrophage cell-line in 96-well plates, then challenging each culture with a pro-inflammatory stimulus (e.g. lipopolysaccharide, LPS) in the presence or absence of each of the natural extracts. The production of pro-inflammatory cytokine (e.g. TNF-α) can then be measured using either ELISA or a relevant bioassay (e.g. the L929 cell crystal violet assay for quantitation of TNF-α).
You should discuss with your supervisor which macrophage cell-line (e.g. THP-1, RAW, J774), target cytokine and type of assay readout (i.e. ELISA or bioassay), would be most appropriate for your project. However, we recommend pairing the RAW or J774 cell-lines with the L929 cell bioassay for measurement of TNF-α, since these cell-lines are easy to work with (requiring no priming for adherence), and the L929 cell bioassay is both greatly more cost-effective than multiple ELISA plates, and offers an excellent opportunity for more tissue culture training.
Through this project, you will gain experience of many skills which are in much demand currently from employers. For example, you will practise standard tissue culture techniques, microplate screening assays, multichannel pipetting, absorbance measurement by plate reader, dose response assays and cytokine measurement by ELISA or bioassay.
This project can be completed in 8-12 weeks of lab time. This timeframe can be extended or shortened by modifying the project on the advice of your supervisor.
To get started, simply read the project outline given below, then follow each of the method sheets in the order shown in the table to explore this particular research question.
Method Sheets for Immunology Project 1 - Discovery of new anti-inflammatory agents
How do I get started?
First, discuss with your supervisor whether this project will be suitable for your aims. If they agree, they will be able to place an order to purchase one of our Phytotitre kits on your behalf. As the order must come from your supervisor or the university purchasing team, you will not be able to place the order yourself.
What support is available to help me complete my project?
Our online project guides offer suggestions for suitable hypotheses to test, and research questions to address, during your project. A list of specific methods you should follow to complete each project variation is also given. Individual method sheets give step-by-step instructions on how to perform each experiment or stage of the analysis. Working through these method sheets in the order given in the project guide will help you to answer a specific research question. Please visit the individual project pages to see examples of how the guides and method sheets support individual projects. Day to day support will be from your university project supervisor.
How long does each project take?
This is very flexible and can be decided between you and your supervisor. The outlines we offer include many possible options for each project. A basic project can be completed in 8 weeks or less. Adding more experiments or analytical approaches can extend the project to 8 months or more.
Can I use the kits to study targets not listed in your methods or guides?
Certainly! The methods can be easily modified with help from your project supervisor to fit whichever target is most relevant to your shared interests.
Where can I find further technical information on the Phytititre library?
More detailed technical information on the library properties is available here.
Cam I buy larger quantities of individual extracts to further study them?
Yes, we can supply larger quantities of fresh extracts with a prompt turnaround. Please click here to view a current price list.
What are the advantages of focussing on natural products for drug discovery?
Natural products have historically been a highly successful source of new drugs (e.g. most antibiotics, many anti-cancer agents, statins, blood pressure drugs etc.). By focusing on plants with a history of oral use in man, the Phytotitre collection furthermore aims to maximise the chances of discovering drug leads which are both bioactive against a relevant target and of low toxicity.