A new collaborative project led by researchers at the University will take a novel approach towards a systemic understanding of liver function and disease based on integrated tissue slice culture and nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics.
The TISuMR project, with an award of more €3.1m, is part of the highly prestigious ‘Future and Emerging Technologies’ (FETOPEN) call of the EU Horizon 2020 research framework. It brings together expertise from Southampton, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
TISuMR combines ground-breaking technology in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) detection of small systems with cutting-edge microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices in order to culture live slices of liver tissue, while continuously monitoring biological and biochemical processes in the tissue with unprecedented detail. TISuMR will also have a profound impact on wider society by providing alternatives to animal testing, by increasing the efficiency and specificity of drug safety testing, and by enabling new treatments in the management of liver disease.
Professor Marcel Utz, Head of Southampton’s Magnetic Resonance Research Group, commented:
Ultimately, TISuMR will provide a novel platform to study tissues as biological systems, while providing unprecedented insight into their inner workings.
Life science research will benefit from this on a broad range of fronts, including the development and testing of new drugs, as well as the study of cancer and other important diseases.
TISuMR joins the expertise and creativity of four leading academic groups and one small/medium enterprise (SME) representing the disciplines of microengineering, physical chemistry, magnetic resonance, biochemistry, toxicology, and clinical hepatology across three institutions from three EU countries.
