Dr Colin D Bingle

Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine
Department of Infection and Immunity
The University of Sheffield Medical School
Beech Hill Road
Sheffield
S10 2RX
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)114 271 2638
Fax: +44 (0)114 226 8898
Email: c.d.bingle@sheffield.ac.uk

Biography

Currently, I am a Reader in Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology in the Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine in the Department of Infection and Immunity at the University of Sheffield. I have been at Sheffield since 1997 when I was appointed to a Lectureship to support the development of molecular and cell biology within the Unit following the appointment of Professor Moira Whyte.

My research has been focused on lung epithelial cell biology since I undertook a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Washington University in St Louis between 1991 and 1993. During that time I became interested in the molecular basis of cell type specific gene expression and I published the first ever paper that identified a specific functional role for a transcription factor (HNF-3) in the regulation of a lung specific gene (Biochem J 1993;295:227-232). Since this time my work has continued to employ molecular biology techniques to address questions relating to the regulation, structure, expression and function of pulmonary epithelial genes.

Research Interests

My long-standing research interests have been focused on cellular differentiation and regulation of gene expression within the developing and adult pulmonary epithelium. This work involves the isolation of pulmonary epithelial cell specific genes as well as the transcription factors, which regulate their expression. Over the past few years my interests have expanded into the fields of the genetics of complex diseases, pulmonary immunology, innate immunity and host defence. Over my time in Sheffield I have also come to appreciate the importance of utilising clinical material as a scientific resource and I have established multiple collaborations to enable the collection and use of such samples for my work.

Teaching Interests

My teaching interests lie in aspects of genetics and comparative genomics which I teach on the MSc in Molecular Medicine.

Professional Activities

• I am Chair of The Biochemical Society Theme panel VII: Development and Disease and a member of the Meetings Board of the Biochemical Society.
• I am a member of the Governing Council of the Biochemical Society.
• I am a member of the Long Range Planning Committee of the Cell and Molecular Biology Assembly of the European Respiratory Society.
• I serve on the Committee of the British Association for Lung Research (BALR).
• I am Faculty representative on the University Health and Safety Committee and Chair of the Medical School Health and Safety Committee.

Current Projects

My research projects largely focus on the identification and characterisation of novel innate immune regulators, particularly members of the WFDC (Oncogene 2002;21:2768-2773) and PLUNC (Hum Mol Gen 2002;11:937-943) protein families. Indeed we identified the later family of proteins and they have gone on to become a significant area of my research focus. Laterly, I have become involved in studies designed to investigate the function and expression of these genes in the developing and diseased respiratory tract using a wide range of clinical samples (J Path 2005; 205: 491-497, Resp Res 2006; April 6;7:61, Resp Res 2007; Nov7:8:79).

Key Publications

1. Bingle CD,, Wilson K, Lunn H, Barnes FA, High AS, Wallace WA, Rassl D, Campos MA, Ribeiro M, and Bingle L. (2010) LPLUNC1, a secreted product of goblet cells and minor glands of the upper aero-digestive tract, Histochemistry and Cell Biology 133 (5) 505-15
2. Bingle L, Barnes FA, Lunn H, Musa M, Webster S, Douglas CWI, Cross SS, High AS, and Bingle CD (2009) Characterisation and expression of SPLUNC2, the human orthologue of rodent Parotid Secretory Protein. Histochemistry and Cell Biology 132(3):339-49
3. Bingle L, Barnes FA, Cross SC, Rassl D, Wallace WA, Campos MA, and Bingle CD. (2007) Differential epithelial expression of the putative innate immune molecule, SPLUNC1 in Cystic Fibrosis. Respiratory Research. November 7; 8:79
4. Bingle L, Cross SS, High AS, Wallace WA, Rassl D, Yuan G, Hellstrom I, Campos MA, and Bingle CD. WFDC2 (HE4): a potential role in the innate immunity of the oral cavity and respiratory tract and the development of adenocarcinomas of the lung. Respir Res. 2006 Apr 6;7:61
5. Bingle CD and Craven CJ. (2002) Plunc: A novel family of candidate host defence proteins expressed in the upper airways and nasopharynx. Human. Mol. Gen. 11;937-943.