Dr Carolyn Staton [PhD, MBiochem]
Department of Oncology
The Medical School
Beech Hill Road
Sheffield
S10 2RX
Office: EU29
Tel: +44 (0) 114 271 3782
Fax: +44 (0) 114 271 3314
email: c.a.staton@sheffield.ac.uk
Biography
I joined the University of Sheffield in 1997 to undertake my PhD studies into the role of fibrinogen and its related fragments on the process of tumour angiogenesis. During the course of my PhD I discovered a number of novel anti-angiogenic agents which were patented by the University of Sheffield and led to the funding of my postdoctoral research position to investigate these further. These studies led to me being given the AACR – Novartis Scholar In Training Award (2000) and the BACR Translational Research Award (2005) - both in open competition.
In August 2004 I was appointed to a lectureship within the Microcirculation Research Group in the Academic Unit of Surgical Oncology and have continued to expand my research into natural angiogenesis regulators, and the regulation of these proteins in wound healing and cancer. I was executive editor on a book ‘Angiogenesis Assays: a critical appraisal of current techniques’ published by John Wiley & Sons and am currently a member of the editorial board of International Journal of Experimental Pathology.
Research Interests
My research focus is on the regulation of angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels from the pre-existing vasculature, in wound healing and tumour development and progression. Angiogenesis and haemostasis, the coagulation cascade leading to clot formation, are among the most consistent host responses associated with cancer. Many haemostatic proteins stimulate angiogenesis by up-regulating the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors on endothelial cells. Other haemostatic proteins act directly on endothelial cells to inhibit or stimulate angiogenesis. Moreover, recently proteins originally identified as important in neuronal guidance are now suspected to be involved in regulating angiogenesis, both positively and negatively. Thus a comprehensive understanding of the relationships between these important processes under normal conditions (such as wound healing) and in the manner in which this changes during development and progression of cancer has implications for cancer therapy. Collaborative research with colleagues in Sheffield also includes investigating the effects of HDACi on the expression of these and other angiogenesis related proteins in cancer, and the potential anti-angiogenic effects of the ADAMTS family.
Teaching Interests
I am involved in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching on the MBChB, BMedSci, MSc in Molecular Medicine, MMedSci & PG diploma in Human Nutrition and PGR RTP modules. I realised that angiogenesis, the development of blood vessels from the existing vasculature, which is a hallmark of over 50 different disease states was only being taught in an ad hoc manner to the undergraduate medical students and therefore I now on angiogenesis, thereby bringing research closer to the general practitioner. More recently I have become the Course Director of the MSc(Res) in Translational Oncology which will start in September 2013 (subject to approval). I designed this course and set up this course, and will also be leading the module on Tumour Microenvironment.
Professional Activities
I was deputy Post-graduate tutor for the 2009/10 cohort of postgraduate students within the School of Medicine and a member of the School of Medicine Graduate Research Committee. I was nominated to represent the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Health on the University wide Female Academics' Progression Action Plan Steering Group. I was voted onto the Committee of the British Microcirculation Society in 2011, and I am on the editorial board of the International Journal of Experimental Pathology, Case Reports in Vascular Medicine, the review editoral boards of Frontiers in Vascular Physiology, and have acted as a consultant to Millipore and Promocell in the development of their angiogenesis assays.
Current Projects
• The regulation of angiogenesis and vascular regression in human dermal wound healing (with Prof NJ Brown, Prof MW Reed, Dr SS Cross)
• The potential of TF knockdown as a cancer therapy (with Prof NJ Brown, Prof MW Reed & Dr M Amarzguioui, SiRNAsense, Oslo)
• The role of class 3 semaphorins in cancer progression (with Dr K Hunter, Prof NJ Brown & Prof MW Reed)
• The role of neuropilins in the response of cancer to Bevacizumab treatment (with Dr I Holen and Prof NJ Brown)
• Down regulation of angiogenic pathways by HDAC inhibition in the colon (with Dr BM Corfe)
• Identification of anti-angiogenic properties and fragments of ADAMTS4 (with Dr DJ Buttle and Dr M Barker)
• Characterisation of anti-angiogenic fragments of human fibrinogen (with Prof CE Lewis, Prof NJ Brown & Prof K Hodivala-Dilke, Bart´s Institute of Cancer)
Key Publications
1. Hsu Y-P, Staton CA, Cross N, Buttle DJ. (2012) Anti-angiogenic properties of ADAMTS-4, in vitro. Int J Exp Pathol. 93:70-77.
2. Staton CA, Shaw LA, Bluff JE, Cross SS, Reed MWR, Brown NJ. (2011) Expression of class 3 semaphorins and their receptors in human breast neoplasia. Histopathology 59:274-282.
3. Bluff JE, Amarzguioui M, Slattery J, Brown NJ, Reed MWR, Staton CA. (2011) Anti-Tissue Factor short hairpin RNA inhibits breast cancer growth in vivo. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 128: 691-701.
4. Yu C-W, Waby J, Chirakkai H, Staton CA, Corfe BM. (2010) Butyrate suppresses expression of neuropilin-1 in colorectal cancer cell lines through inhibition of Sp1 activation. Molecular Cancer 9:276.
5. Kumar I, Staton CA, Cross SS, Reed MWR, Brown NJ. (2009). The relationship between angiogenesis, vascular endothelial grown factor and its receptors in human surgical wounds. Br J Surgery 96(12):1484-91.
6. Bluff JE, Menakuru SR, Cross SS, Higham SE, Balasubramanian SP, Brown NJ, Reed MW, Staton CA. (2009). In human breast cancer the angiogenic switch occurs at the onset of dysplasia in the breast. British Journal of Cancer 18: 666-672.
7. Staton CA, Reed MWR, Brown NJ. (2009). A critical analysis of current in vitro and in vivo angiogenesis assays. Int J Exp Pathol. 90: 195-221.
8. Bluff JE, Brown NJ, Reed MW, Staton CA. (2008) Tissue Factor, Angiogenesis and tumour progression. Breast Cancer Research. 10(2):204.
9. Staton CA, Chetwood AS, Cameron IC, Cross SS, Brown NJ, Reed MW. (2007) The angiogenic switch occurs at the adenoma stage of the adenoma-carcinoma sequence in colorectal cancer. Gut. 56(10):1426-32.
10. Staton CA, Stribbling SM, Garcia-Echeverria C, Bury JP, Tazzyman S, Lewis CE & Brown NJ. (2007) Identification of key residues involved in mediating the in vivo anti-tumour/anti-endothelial activity of Alphastatin. J. Thromb. Haemost. 5(4): 846-54.
11. Staton CA, Brown NJ, Rodgers GR, Corke KP, Tazzyman S, Underwood JCE, Lewis CE. (2004) Alphastatin, a 24 amino-acid fragment of human fibrinogen, is a potent new inhibitor of activated endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. Blood 103: 601-606.
