Clare Bryant FLSW is a British veterinary scientist and clinical pharmacologist who is a professor at the University of Cambridge. She specialises in innate immunity. Bryant is a Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge and of the British Pharmacological Society.

Clare Bryant
Alma materRoyal Veterinary College
University of London
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge
ThesisA study of the cardiovascular pharmacology of medetomidine (1993)

Early life and education

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Bryant was an undergraduate in biochemistry and physiology at the University of Southampton.[1][2] She trained in veterinary medicine in London.[3] She was supported by the Wellcome Trust to complete a doctorate.[4] Her research first concentrated on anaesthesia, but soon shifted focus to concentrate on receptor pharmacology.[2] She spent four years as a Wellcome Trust postdoctoral fellow with John Vane at the William Harvey Research Institute.[1] She started her independent career at the University of Cambridge.

Research and career

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Bryant studies how hosts recognise bacteria using pattern recognition receptors (PRR).[5][6] She is interested in how these PRR are related to chronic inflammatory diseases, for example Alzheimer's disease. There are several different types of PRR, including Toll-like receptors and NOD-like receptors. She is particularly interested in the PRRs that detect Salmonella enterica. Bryant has studied how ligands on the outer-membranes of bacteria (for example, lipopolysaccharides like endotoxin) interact with PRR to recruit signalling molecules.[7]

Bryant's research demonstrated the power of Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) and single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to understand the function of toll-like receptors[8] and super resolution microscopy to determine the function of NOD-like receptors[9] to work out how these PRRs form signalling.[10] When allergens are contaminated by endotoxins they can be detected by toll-like receptors. By preventing this detection, Bryant believes it may be possible to design inhibitors that suppress the onset of allergenic responses. As the proteins produced in neuroinflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are recognised by toll-like receptors and induce inflammation, these studies may identify novel treatments for neurodegenerative conditions.[7][11]

In 2023, Bryant was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.[12]

Selected publications

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  • Simon D Harding; Joanna L. Sharman; Elena Faccenda; et al. (1 January 2018). "The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY in 2018: updates and expansion to encompass the new guide to IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY". Nucleic Acids Research. 46 (D1): D1091–D1106. doi:10.1093/NAR/GKX1121. ISSN 0305-1048. PMC 5753190. PMID 29149325. Wikidata Q47139831.
  • Evanna L Mills; Beth Kelly; Angela Logan; et al. (22 September 2016). "Succinate Dehydrogenase Supports Metabolic Repurposing of Mitochondria to Drive Inflammatory Macrophages". Cell. 167 (2): 457-470.e13. doi:10.1016/J.CELL.2016.08.064. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 5863951. PMID 27667687. Wikidata Q46485595.
  • Clare Bryant; Katherine A Fitzgerald (26 August 2009). "Molecular mechanisms involved in inflammasome activation". Trends in Cell Biology. 19 (9): 455–464. doi:10.1016/J.TCB.2009.06.002. ISSN 0962-8924. PMID 19716304. Wikidata Q37588947.

References

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  1. ^ a b Bryant, Professor Clare (10 May 2011). "Professor Clare Bryant". www.infectiousdisease.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Leonard, Lorraine (10 May 2016). "Professor Clare Bryant". www.vet.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Professor Clare Bryant | Queens' College". www.queens.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Polypharmakos Ltd". www.polypharmakos.com. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  5. ^ Bryant, BBSRC Research Development Fellow C. E. (7 December 2016). "Professor Clare Bryant". www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Polypharmakos Ltd". www.polypharmakos.com. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b Bryant, Professor Clare (21 October 2012). "Professor Clare Bryant". www.immunology.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  8. ^ Latty, Sarah Louise; Sakai, Jiro; Hopkins, Lee; Verstak, Brett; Paramo, Teresa; Berglund, Nils A; Cammarota, Eugenia; Cicuta, Pietro; Gay, Nicholas J; Bond, Peter J; Klenerman, David (24 January 2018). "Activation of Toll-like receptors nucleates assembly of the MyDDosome signaling hub". eLife. 7: e31377. doi:10.7554/eLife.31377. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 5825206. PMID 29368691.
  9. ^ Man, S. M.; Hopkins, L. J.; Nugent, E.; Cox, S.; Gluck, I. M.; Tourlomousis, P.; Wright, J. A.; Cicuta, P.; Monie, T. P.; Bryant, C. E. (6 May 2014). "Inflammasome activation causes dual recruitment of NLRC4 and NLRP3 to the same macromolecular complex". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (20): 7403–7408. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.7403M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1402911111. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4034195. PMID 24803432.
  10. ^ Herre, Jurgen; Grönlund, Hans; Brooks, Heather; Hopkins, Lee; Waggoner, Lisa; Murton, Ben; Gangloff, Monique; Opaleye, Olaniyi; Chilvers, Edwin R.; Fitzgerald, Kate; Gay, Nick (15 August 2013). "Allergens as immunomodulatory proteins: the cat dander protein Fel d 1 enhances TLR activation by lipid ligands". Journal of Immunology. 191 (4): 1529–1535. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1300284. ISSN 1550-6606. PMC 3836235. PMID 23878318.
  11. ^ "Scientist Focus: Prof Clare Bryant". Alzheimer's Research UK. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  12. ^ Wales, The Learned Society of. "Clare Bryant". The Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 29 August 2023.