Biography
Paula Murphy's research interests are in the genetic regulation of embryonic development, and she has been carrying out research in this field since starting postgraduate studies towards her doctoral degree in 1987. The relationship between gene expression patterns and gene function has been a prominent part of her work, and detailed expression analysis is one of her specialisations. The focus of her current research is on understanding the molecular basis of tissue formation and morphogenesis in the vertebrate embryo, in particular how mechanical signals integrate with molecular pathways in guiding spatially organized tissue differentiation. She uses mouse and chick animal models to reveal the effects of disrupting regulatory mechanisms to test functional hypotheses; making use of mutant mouse lines. The research team is currently pioneering approaches to specifically manipulate gene function using CRISPR interference directly in vivo in the chick embryo. This permits targeting of specific tissues in a whole embryo context. The lab specializes in imaging molecular events within the 3D morphological context of the embryo. Her research career spans experience in a number of top international research institutions (Medical Research Council HUman Genetics Unit, Edinburgh; The University of Rome (La Sapienza); Ecole Normale Supeieur, Paris; The biotechnology Institute of Oslo, University of Oslo) and she continues to collaborate with international colleagues in the US and Europe.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Gallagher, S,. Murphy, P., Implementing inter-institutional lifelong sustainability education: The UNI-ECO e-learning case study, Irish Journal of Academic Practice, 11, (2), 2024
Building a Co-ordinated Musculoskeletal System: The Plasticity of the Developing Skeleton in Response to Muscle Contractions in, editor(s)Boris Kablar , Roles of Skeletal Muscle in Organ Development, Springer Nature, 2023, [Paula Murphy and Rebecca Rolfe]
Rolfe, RA. Shea, CA. and Murphy P., Geometric analysis of chondrogenic self-organisation of embryonic limb bud cells in micromass culture., Cell and Tissue Research , 2022
Murphy P., Armit C., Hill B., Venkataraman S., Frankel P., Baldock R. and Davidson D. , Integrated analysis of Wnt signalling system component gene expression, Development , 149, (16), 2022, pdoi: 10.1242/dev.200312. Epub
Hill, Bill. Husz, Zost. Armit, Chris. Davidson, Duncan R. Murphy, Paula. Baldock, Richard A., WlzWarp: An Open-Source Tool for Complex Alignment of Spatial Data, 2022
Darker CD., Mullin M., Doyle L., Tanner M., McGrath D., Doherty L., Dreyer-Gibney K., Barret EM., Flynn D., Ivers J, Burke E, Ryan M., McCarron M., Murphy P., et alia, Developing a healthy university campus in Trinity College Dublin - overview and an outline process evaluation , Health Promotion International, 2021
Peterson BE., Rolfe RA., Kunselman A., Murphy P., and Szczesny S., Mechanical Stimulation via Muscle Activity is Necessary for the Maturation of Tendon Multiscale Mechanics during Embryonic Development, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology , 2021, p10.3389/fcell.2021.725563
Rolfe, RA. Scanlon-O' Callaghan, D. and Murphy P., Joint development recovery on resumption of embryonic movement following paralysis, Disease Models and Mechanisms , 14, (4), 2021, phttps://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.04
Shea, C.A. and Murphy, P , The Primary Cilium on Cells of Developing Skeletal Rudiments; Distribution, Characteristics and Response to Mechanical Stimulation, Frontiers in Cell and developmental Biology , 2021, phttps://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.
Shea C.A., Rolfe R.A., McNeill H., AND Murphy P., Localization of YAP activity in developing skeletal rudiments is responsive to mechanical stimulation, Developmental Dynamics , 249, (4), 2020, p523 - 542
V Sotiriou, RA Rolfe, P Murphy, NC Nowlan, Effects of abnormal muscle forces on prenatal joint morphogenesis in mice, Jounral of Orthopaedic Research, 37, (11), 2019, p2287 - 2296
Rolfe R., Shea C., Singh P., Bandyopadhyay A., Murphy P., Uncovering the mechanistic basis of biomechanical input controlling skeletal development: exploring the interplay with Wnt signalling at the joint, Philosophical Transactions B, 373, (1759), 2018, p1 - 12
Rolfe RA, Shea CA, Singh PNP, Bandyopadhyay A, Murphy P, Investigating the mechanistic basis of biomechanical input controlling skeletal development: exploring the interplay with Wnt signalling at the joint, Philisophical Transactions of the Royal society, 2018
Mohammadkhah M, Murphy P, Simms CK., Collagen fibril organization in chicken and porcine skeletal muscle perimysium under applied tension and compression., Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 77, 2018, p734 - 744
Pratik Narendra Pratap Singh, Claire Shea, Shashank Kumar Sonker, Rebecca Rolfe, Ayan Ray, Sandeep Kumar, Pankaj Gupta, Paula Murphy, Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, Precise spatial restriction of BMP signaling in developing joints is perturbed upon loss of embryo movement, Development, 145, (5), 2018, pdev153460-
Saha, A., Rolfe, R., Carroll, S., Kelly, D.J., Murphy, P., Chondrogenesis of embryonic limb bud cells in micromass culture progresses rapidly to hypertrophy and is modulated by hydrostatic pressure, Cell and Tissue Research, 368, (1), 2017, p47-59
Mohammadkhah M, Simms C.K, Murphy P, Visualisation of Collagen in fixed skeletal muscle tissue using fluorescently tagged Collagen binding protein CNA35, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 66, 2017, p37 - 44
Mc Laughlin D, Murphy P, Puri P, Notochord manipulation does not impact oesophageal and tracheal formation from isolated foregut in 3D explant culture., Pediatric surgery international, 32, (1), 2016, p29-35
Mohammadkhah M, Murphy P, Simms C.K, The in vitro passive elastic response of chicken pectoralis muscle to applied tensile and compressive deformation, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 62, 2016, p468 - 480
Beaton H, Andrews D, Parsons M, Murphy M, Gaffney A, Kavanagh D, McKay GJ, Maxwell AP, Taylor CT, Cummins EP, Godson C, Higgins DF, Murphy P, Crean J, Wnt6 regulates epithelial cell differentiation and is dysregulated in renal fibrosis., American journal of physiology. Renal physiology, 311, (1), 2016, pF35-F45
Shea CA, Rolfe RA, Murphy P, The importance of foetal movement for co-ordinated cartilage and bone development in utero : clinical consequences and potential for therapy., Bone & joint research, 4, (7), 2015, p105-16
Rolfe RA, Nowlan NC, Kenny EM, Cormican P, Morris DW, Prendergast PJ, Kelly D, Murphy P., Identification of mechanosensitive genes during skeletal development: alteration of genes associated with cytoskeletal rearrangement and cell signalling pathways., BioMedCentral Genomics, 15, 2014, p1 - 23
Rolfe, R.A., Kenny, E.M., Cormican, P., Murphy, P., Transcriptome analysis of the mouse E14.5 (TS23) developing humerus and differential expression in muscle-less mutant embryos lacking mechanical stimulation, Genomics Data, 2, 2014, p32-36
Mc Laughlin D, Murphy P, Puri P, Altered Tbx1 gene expression is associated with abnormal oesophageal development in the adriamycin mouse model of oesophageal atresia/tracheo-oesophageal fistula., Paediatric Surgery International, 30, (2), 2014, p143 - 149
Rolfe Rebecca, Roddy Karen, and Murphy Paula, Mechanical Regulation of Skeletal Development , Current Osteoporosis Reports, 11, (2), 2013, p107 - 116
Sato H, Hajduk P, Furuta S, Wakisaka M, Murphy P, Puri P, Kitagawa H, Effect of abnormal notochord delamination on hindgut development in the Adriamycin mouse model., Pediatric Surgery International , 29, (11), 2013, p1209 - 1216
Wong, F., Welten, M.C.M., Anderson, C., Bain, A.A., Liu, J., Wicks, M.N., Pavlovska, G., (...), Burt, D.W., eChickAtlas: An introduction to the database, Genesis, 51, (5), 2013, p365-371
Mc Laughlin, Danielle, Hajduk, Piotr, Murphy, Paula, Puri, Prem, Adriamycin-Induced Models of VACTERL Association, Molecular Syndromology, 4, (1-2), 2013, p46 - 62
Martin, Audrey; Maher, Stephanie; Summerhurst, Kristen; Davidson, Duncan; Murphy, Paula , Differential deployment of Paralogous Wnt genes in the Mouse and Chick Embryo during Development. , Evolution and Development, 142, 2012, p178 - 196
Tatiana Vinardell, Rebecca A. Rolfe, Conor T. Buckley, Eric G. Meyer, Mark Ahearne, Paula Murphy and Daniel J. Kelly, Hydrostatic pressure acts to stabilise a chondrogenic phenotype in porcine joint tissue derived stem cells, European Cells and Materials, 23, 2012, p121 - 134
Hajduk, Piotr; May, Alison; Puri, Prem; Murphy, Paula , The Effect of Adriamycin Exposure on the Notochord of Mouse Embryos, Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology , 95, 2012, p175 - 183
Karen A. Roddy, Geraldine M. Kelly, Maarten H. van Esc, Paula Murphy, and Patrick J. Prendergast, Dynamic patterns of mechanical stimulation co-localise with growth and cell proliferation during morphogenesis in the avian embryonic knee joint, Journal of Biomechanics, 44, (11), 2011, p143-149
Nowlan N.C., Dumas, G., Tajbakhsh S., Prendergast P. And Murphy P. , Passive Movement Due to External Mechanical Stimulation Plays a Role in Embryonic Skeletal Development. , Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology , epub ahead of print, 2011
Nowlan, N.C., Dumas, G., Tajbakhsh, S., Prendergast, P.J., Murphy, P. , Biophysical stimuli induced by passive movements compensate for lack of skeletal muscle during embryonic skeletogenesis , Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 11, (1-2), 2011, p207-219
Hajduk P, Sato H, Puri P, Murphy P, Abnormal notochord branching is associated with foregut malformations in the adriamycin treated mouse model., PloS one, 6, (11), 2011, pe27635
Miller-Delaney, S., Lieberam, I., Jessell, T., Murphy P. and Mitchell, K. , Plxdc2 is a mitogen for neural progenitors, PLoS ONE, 6, (1), 2011, pe14565
Piotr Hajduk, Hideaki Sato, Prem Puri and Paula Murphy , Abnormal Notochord Branching is Associated with Foregut Abnormalities in an Adriamycin Treated Mouse Model, PLoS ONE, 6, (11, e27635), 2011
Roddy KA, Prendergast PJ, Murphy P, Mechanical Influences on Morphogenesis of the Knee Joint Revealed through Morphological, Molecular and Computational Analysis of Immobilised Embryos., PloS one, 6, (2), 2011, pe17526
Nowlan, N. C., Sharpe, J., Prendergast P.J. and Murphy P. , Mechanobiology of Embryonic Skeletal Development: Insights from Animal Models., Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today, 90, (3), 2010, p203-213
Hajduk P, Murphy P, Puri P, Mesenchymal expression of Tbx4 gene is not altered in Adriamycin mouse model., Pediatric surgery international, 26, (4), 2010, p407-11
Takayasu H, Murphy P, Sato H, Doi T, Puri P., Embryonic Wnt gene expression in the nitrofen-induced hypoplastic lung using 3-dimensional imaging, Journal of Paediatric Surgery, 45, (11), 2010, p2129 - 2135
Niamh C. Nowlan, Céline Bourdon, Shahragim Tajbakhsh, Gérard Dumas, Patrick J. Prendergast and Paula Murphy, Developing bones are differentially affected by compromised skeletal muscle formation, Bone, 46, 2010, p1275-1285
Dalton Victoria S., Borich Suzanne M., Murphy P. and Roberts B.L., Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor mRNA expression in the Brain of the Teleost Fish, Anguilla anguilla, the European eel., Brain, Behaviour and Evolution, 73, (1), 2009, p43 - 58
Vendrell V., Summerhurst K, Sharpe J, Davidson D, Murphy P, Gene expression analysis of canonical Wnt pathway transcriptional regulators during early morphogenesis of the facial region in the mouse embryo, Gene Expression Patterns, 2009
Nowlan, N.C. , Prendergast, P.J. , Tajbakhsh, S., Murphy, P., Identifying candidate mechanoregulators of skeletal development, Proceedings of the ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference 2009, SBC2009, 11th ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference, SBC2009, Lake Tahoe, 17-21 June, PART A,, 2009, pp149-150
Foolen, J., van Donkelaar, Corrinus C., Murphy, Paula, Huiskes, Rik, Ito, Keita, Residual periosteum tension is insufficient to directly modulate bone. , Journal of Biomechanics, 42, (2), 2009, p152 - 157
Hajduk P, Murphy P, Puri P., Fgf10 gene expression is delayed in the embryonic lung mesenchyme in the adriamycin mouse model., Paediatric Surgery International, 26, (1), 2009, p23 - 27
Karen A. Roddy, Niamh C Nowlan, Patrick J. Prendergast, and Paula Murphy, 3D representation of the developing chick knee joint: a novel approach integrating multiple components, Journal of Anatomy, 214, (3), 2009, p374 - 387
Sato, H., Murphy, P., Hajduk, P., Takayasu, H., Kitagawa, H. and Puri, P. , Sonic hedgehog gene expression in nitrofen induced hypoplastic lungs in mice. , Pediatric Surgery International, 25, (11), 2009, p967 - 971
Foolen J., van Donkelaar C., Nowlan N., Murphy P., Huiskes R. and Ito K., Collagen orientation in periosteum and perichondrium is aligned with preferential directions of tissue growth., Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 26, (9), 2008, p1263 - 1268
Sato H., Murphy P., Giles S., Bannigan J., Takayasu H. and Puri P., Visualising expression patterns of Shh and Foxf1 genes in the foregut and lung buds by Optical Projection Tomography. , Pediatric Surgery International, 24, (1), 2008, p3 - 11
Kristen Summerhurst, Margaret Stark, James Sharpe, Duncan Davidson and Paula Murphy, 3D representation of Wnt and Frizzled gene expression patterns in the mouse embryo at embryonic day 11.5 (Ts 19)., Gene Expression Patterns, 8, (5), 2008, p331 - 348
Nowlan N, Murphy P, Prendergast PJ, Dynamic pattern of mechanical stimulation promotes ossification in avian embryonic long bones, Journal of Biomechanics, 41, (3), 2008, p249 - 258
Nowlan, N., Prendergast P.J. and Murphy, P., Identification of Mechanosensitive Genes during Embryonic Bone Formation. , PLoS Computational Biology, 4, (12), 2008, pe1000250-
Malcolm E. Fisher, Allyson K. Clelland, Andrew Bain, Richard A. Baldock, Paula Murphy, Helen Downie, Cheryll Tickle, Duncan R. Davidson and Richard A. Buckland., Integrating technologies for comparing 3D gene expression domains in the developing chick limb, Developmental Biology, 317, (1), 2008, p13 - 23
N. Nowlan, P. Murphy and P.J. Prendergast, Mechanical stimuli resulting from embryonic muscle contractions promote avian periosteal bone collar formation', Summer Bioengineering Conference,, Colorado , American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2007
Suzanne F. C. Miller, Kristen Summerhurst, Annette E. Rünker, Géraldine Kerjan, Roland H. Friedel, Alain Chédotal, Paula Murphy and Kevin J. Mitchell, Expression of Plxdc2/TEM7R in the developing nervous system of the mouse, Mechanisms of Development, 7, (5), 2007, p635 - 644
Nowlan, NC, Murphy, P, Prendergast, PJ, Mechanobiology of embryonic limb development, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1101, 2007, p389 - 411
Sato H, Murphy P, Giles S, Bannigan J and Puri P, Optical Projection Tomography as a new tool for visualising gene expression, Reproductive toxicology , 24, (1), 2007, p66 - 66
Ugo Borello, Barbara Berarducci, Paula Murphy, , The Wnt/ß-catenin pathway regulates the Shh-mediated Myf5 , Development, 133, 2006, p3723 - 3732
Nowlan, N.C., Murphy P. and Prendergast, P.J., The calculation of mechanical stresses in the growing avian embryonic limb using optical projection tomography, Proceedings of the 2006 Summer Bioengineering Conference of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, Summer Bioengineering Conference of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, 2006
Lioubinski O, Alonso MT, Alvarez Y, Vendrell V, Garrosa M, Murphy P, Schimmang T., FGF signalling controls expression of vomeronasal receptors during embryogenesis., Mechanisms of Development, 123, (1), 2006, p17 - 23
Nowlan, N.C. , Murphy P. and Prendergast, P.J., The characterisation of mechanical stresses in the growing avian embryonic limb, Proceedings of the 5th World Congress of Biomechanics, 5th World Congress of Biomechanics, 2006
Nowlan, N.C. , Murphy P. and Prendergast, P.J. , The influence of mechanical forces in the growing embryonic limb, Proceedings of the 52 nd Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society , 52 nd Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society , Orthopaedic Research Society , 2006, pp31
Nowlan N., Murphy P. and Prendergast P. , Computation of stresses in the growing embryonic chick limb. , II International Conference on Computational Bioengineering, II International Conference on Computational Bioengineering, Lisbon, Portugal, September 14-16 2005, edited by H Rodrigues et al. , 2005, pp861 - 872
Nowlan, N.C., Murphy P. and Prendergast, P.J, Computation of stresses in the growing embryonic chick limb, Proceedings of the 2 nd International Conference on Computational Bioengineering , 2nd International Conference on Computational Bioengineering , edited by Rodrigues, et al., , 2, IST Press. Lisbon., 2005, pp861-872
Nowlan, N.C. , Murphy P. and Prendergast, P.J., Mechanical Stimuli Resulting From Embryonic Muscle Contractions Promote Avian Periosteal Bone Collar Formation, Proceedings of the 2007 Summer Bioengineering Conference of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, 2007 Summer Bioengineering Conference of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, American Society of Mechanical Engineering, 2005, pp833-834
Husberg, C., Murphy, P., Bjorgo, E., Kalland, K-H. and Kolsto, A-B., Cellular localisation and nuclear export of the human bZIP transcription factor TCF11, Biochimica Biophysica Acta, 1640, (2-3), 2003, p143 - 151
Husberg, C., Murphy, P., Martin, E. and Kolsto, A.B., Two domains of the human bZIP transcription factor TCF11 are necessary for transactivation, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276, (21), 2001, p17641 - 17652
Myhrstad, M., Husberg, C., Murphy, P., Moskaug, J.O. and Kolsto, A.B., TCF11/Nrf1 over-expression increases the intracellular glutathione level and can transactivate the gamma-glutamylcysteine sythetase (GCS) heavy subunit promoter., Biochimica Biophysica Acta, 1517, (2), 2001, p212 - 219
Murphy, P. and Kolsto, A.B., Expression of the bZIP transcription factor TCF11 and its potential dimerisation partners during development, Mechanisms of Development, 97, (1-2), 2000, p141 - 148.
Cossu, G., De Angelis, L., Borello, U., Berarducci, B., Buffa, V., Sonnino, C., Coletta, M., Vivarelli, E., Bouche, M., Lattanzi, L., Tosoni, D., Di Donna, S., Berghella, L., Salvatori, G., Murphy, P., Cusella-De Angelis, M.G. and Molinaro, M., Determination, diversification and multipotency of mammalian myogenic cells., International Journal of Developmental Biology, 44, 2000, p699 - 706
Skammelsrud, N., Martin, E.R., Murphy, P., Khuu, C., Frengen, E. and Kolsto, A-B., The gene for human transcription factor TCF11 is located telomeric to D17S1827, BTR and HP1Hsb on chromosome 17q22, Genetic Analysis, 15, (6), 1999, p217 - 222
Johnsen, O. and Murphy, P., Prydz, H. and Kolsto, A-B., Interaction of the CNC-bZIP factor TCF11/LCR-F1/Nrf1 with MafG: binding-site selection and regulation of transcription, Nucleic Acids Research, 26, (2), 1998, p512 - 520
Topilko, P., Murphy, P. and Charnay, P., Embryonic development of Schwann cells: multiple roles for neuregulins along the pathway, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, 8, (2-3), 1996, p71 - 75
Murphy, P., Topilko, P., Schneider-Maunoury, Seitanidou, T. and Charnay, P., The regulation of Krox-20 expression reveals important steps in the control of peripheral glial cell development., Development, 122, (9), 1996, p2847 - 2857
Becker, N., Setanidou, T., Murphy, P., Mattei, M.G., Topilko, P., Nieto, A., Wilkinson, D.G., Charnay, P. and Gilardi-Hebenstreit, P., Several receptor tyrosine kinase genes of the Eph family are segmentally expressed in the developing hindbrain, Mechanisms of Development, 47, (1), 1994, p3 - 17
Retinoid induced alterations of segmental organisation and gene expression in the mouse hindbrain. in, editor(s)G.M.Morriss-Kay (ed.) , Retinoids in normal development and teratogenesis, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1992, pp229 - 240, [Murphy, P., Morriss-Kay, G.M., Hill, R.E. and Davidson, D.R.]
Multiple myogenic cell precursors and their possible role in muscle histogenesis in, editor(s)A.M.Kelly and H.M.Blau (eds.) , Neuromuscular development and disease, New York, Raven Press, 1992, pp183 - 195, [Cossu, G., Cusella-De Angelis, M.G., De Angelis, L., Mezzogiorno, A., Murphy, P., Coletta, M., Vivarelli, E., Bouche, M. and Molinaro, M.]
Morriss-Kay, G.M., Murphy, P., Hill, R.E. and Davidson, D.R., Effects of retinoic acid excess on expression oh Hox 2.9 and Krox 20 and on morphological segmentation in the hindbrain of mouse embryos, EMBO Journal, 10, 1991, p2985 - 2995
Murphy, P. and Hill, R.E., Expression of the mouse labial-like homeobox-containing genes, Hox 2.9 and Hox 1.6, during segementation of the hindbrain, Development, 111, (1), 1991, p61 - 74
Murphy, P., Davidson, D.R. and Hill, R.E., Segment specific expression of a homeobox-containing gene in the mouse hindbrain, Nature, 341, 1989, p156 - 159
Murphy, P., Dowds, B.C., McConnell, D.J., Devine, K.M. , Oxidative stress and growth temperature in Bacillus-Subtilis, Journal OF Bacteriology, 169, (12), 1987, p5766 - 5770
Dowds, B.C., Murphy, P., McConnell, D.J. and Devine, K.M., Relationship among oxidative stress, growth cycle and sporulation in Bacillus subtilis, Journal of Bacteriology, 169, (12), 1987, p5771 - 5775
Rolfe RA, Basturkmen ET, Sliney L, Hayden G, Dunne N, Buckley N, McCarthy H, Szczesney SE and Murphy P., Embryo movement is required for limb tendon maturation
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Rolfe RA, Basturkmen EB, Sliney L, Hayden G, Dunne N, Buckley N, McCarthy H, Szczesney SE, and Murphy P., Embryo Movement is required for limb tendon maturation, BioRXIV, 2024
Hill, Bill. Husz, Zost. Armit, Chris. Davidson, Duncan R. Murphy, Paula. Baldock, Richard A., WlzWarp: An Open-Source Tool for Complex Alignment of Spatial Data, biorXiv , 2022
Murphy, Paula. Summerhurst, Kristen. Brady, Gareth. Vendrell, Victor. Frankel, Patrick. Redmond, Martina. Maddock, Jessica. Killion-Connolly, Somantha. Armit, Chris. Hill, Bill. Venkatarman, Shanmugasundaram. Yiwen, Sun. Baldock, Richard. Davidson, Duncan. , Wnt Pathway Analysis mapped gene-expression data, University of Edinburgh (datashare) , 2021
Murphy, Paula. Summerhurst, Kristen. Brady, Gareth. Vendrell, Victor. Frankel, Patrick. Redmond, Martina. Killion-Connolly, Somantha. Armit, Chris. Hill, Bill. Venkatarman, Shanmugasundaram. Yiwen, Sun. Baldock, Richard. Davidson, Duncan. Maddock, Jessica, Wnt Pathway Analysis mapped gene-expression point-cloud data, University of Edinburgh (datashare) , 2021
Nowlan, N. C., P. Murphy & P. J. Prendergast. , The influence of mechanical forces in the growing embryonic limb. , Transactions of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Chicago, Illinois, edited by Burr, D. B , 31, 2006, ppno. 123-
Miller S.F., Runker A.E., Kerjan G., Friedel R.H., Murphy P., Mitchell K.J., TEM7R in the developing mammalian nervous system. , International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience , 24, 2006, p598 - 598
Research Expertise
Description
The focus of the research is on understanding the molecular basis of tissue formation and morphogenesis in the vertebrate embryo, in particular how mechanical signals integrate with molecular pathways in guiding spatially organized tissue differentiation. The laboratory uses both mouse and chick animal models to reveal the effects of disrupting regulatory mechanisms to test functional hypotheses; making use of mutant mouse lines. This work is noteworthy for synergistic interdisciplinary collaboration, yet maintaining a focus and leadership in developmental biology. My independent research is built upon high impact work during my PhD and post-doctoral fellowships, initially establishing my independent research lab at Trinity College with a Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator award, using 3D imaging to integrate multiple gene expression patterns across time and space in the mouse embryo; work that has recently culminated in release of a valuable 3D mapped data resource for the Developmental Biology Community (https://journals.biologists.com/dev/article/276332/Signalling-pathway-Wnt-igration) My focus on morphogenesis of the developing limb in particular, and how spatially organized tissue specification occurs, led to collaborative research with colleagues in the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering and I have built a very successful track-record of collaborative research with engineers. These interdisciplinary collaborations have had a transformative effect, bringing a developmental biology perspective and understanding, enabling a deeper understanding of the role mechanics plays in morphogenesis. I have co-advised engineering students who have become very successful independent researchers themselves and are now using embryological models in their independent research. We have used transcriptomics to show that Wnt siganlling is central to the mechanoresponse in the skeleton and the openly available data were the 5th most highly viewed mouse data of 18,000 database entries, highlighting the utility, timeliness and quality of the work (Rolfe et al 2014). Significantly, we proposed a new model to explain the correct spatial differentiation of permanent articular cartilage at the joint and the transient cartilage that will serve as an anlage for later bone development (Rolfe et al 2018; Singh et al 2018).Recognition
Awards and Honours
Fellow of Trinity College Dublin
Welcome Trust Research Grant
Science Foundation Ireland. Investigator Programme Grant
Norwegian Cancer Society (Den Norske Kreftforening) research grants
Human Frontiers Science Program fellowship
EMBO long term research fellowship
Medical Research Council Studentship