Xcell: Studying cells and tissue biochemistry in simulated microgravity

The Xcell project explores how cells and tissues behave in simulated microgravity, providing essential insights for the future of space exploration and biology.

Microgravity, where objects seem weightless and float as they do in space, significantly affects biological systems. It changes the mechanical forces that cells experience, which influences key processes such as cell division, nuclear dynamics, and cellular behaviours.

The Xcell project aims to maintain a strategic infrastructure to observe 3D cellular systems under simulated microgravity conditions. This helps us study how cells and tissues behave in an environment similar to space

The need for microgravity research

The space industry is rapidly evolving, leading to more space missions and new regulatory and ethical challenges.

Understanding how microgravity affects biology is essential as space exploration increases.

For example, the NASA Artemis programme will make history by landing the first woman and the first person of colour on the moon. This programme will also set up the Lunar Gateway, a space station that will serve as a stepping stone for future missions to the moon and Mars. The lunar economy could be worth £144 billion by 2040.

In response, the British aerospace industry and the UK Space Agency are heavily investing in these activities to capitalise on future scientific, technological, and financial opportunities.

Recognising the importance of this field, a group of experts from engineering and biosciences have come together to raise external funding for space biology, focusing on microgravity research.

Our approach

The Xcell project is part of Brunel University of London's B-STAR research network, which includes experts in policy and regulation, social sciences, aerospace engineering, additive manufacturing, organ-on-the-chip technology, and biomedical sciences. This interdisciplinary approach makes Xcell unique in the field of microgravity research.

The project has established a new facility with a state-of-the-art random positioning machine (RPM) by Yuri Gravity. This machine simulates microgravity by constantly changing the orientation of the samples, creating a time-averaged zero-gravity environment.

In addition to this innovative facility, the Xcell team is developing new designs for organ-on-the-chip systems and random positioning machines (RPMs). These advancements aim to improve the experimental systems used to study how biological processes respond to mechanical forces and microgravity.

The project supports a wide range of biological experiments, including studies on infection, inflammation, cancer, genome maintenance, cell division, and food manufacturing.

Xcell aims to prioritise projects related to female biology and is committed to widening participation in space research, ensuring that diverse perspectives and experiences are included in this groundbreaking field.

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Dr Alessandro Esposito - I joined the University of Brunel in 2022 as a Lecturer in Biosciences (epigenetics). I am looking forward to sharing with students my passion for understanding how cells and tissues work, particularly how cells make decisions and differ from each other despite sharing an identical genome. My journey started in Sanremo, a small town on the Riviera dei Fiori in Italy. Passionate about science, physics and biology, I moved to the Ligurian capital to complete my studies, where I obtained my BSc in Physics at the University of Genoa. I specialized in Biophysics, microscopy, and neurosciences. I then completed my PhD in Biophysics at the University of Utrecht (NL), while working at the European Neuroscience Institute in Goettingen (DL). I had the opportunity to develop microscopes dedicated to biochemical imaging and the study of molecular mechanisms underpinning neurodegenerative diseases. Meanwhile, I trained in cell and molecular biology aiming to work at the interface between disciplines. In 2007, I started a long stint of work at the University of Cambridge. First, I developed novel analytical tools contributing to redefining models of red blood cell homeostasis infected by P. falciparum (malaria). In recognition of my early work, I was awarded a Life Science Interface fellowship by the EPSRC in 2009 to develop heavily multiplexed biochemical imaging tools and applications. Soon after, I moved to the MRC Cancer Unit where I led the ‘Systems Microscopy initiative’ and retrained in cancer biology. My work developed along two research streams: i) the study of cellular responses to DNA damage and mutations in signalling pathways and ii) the innovation of biochemical imaging technologies. Within the Director group, my team contributed to revealing the vast cell-to-cell variability in stress responses of genetically identical cells, a feature of biological systems that hinder the efficacy of disease management and therapeutic efficacy. Since 2019, my primary focus has been to understand how DNA damage and mutations in KRAS derange homeostatic programmes leading to cancer, in particular in models of pancreatic and colorectal cancers. My group combines multi-omics data with single-cell biochemical imaging techniques aiming to achieve a deeper understanding of cancer phenotypes during the earliest stages of carcinogenesis, with particular attention to cell-to-cell variability of non-genetic origin and cell-to-cell communication. After the closure of the MRC Cancer Unit in 2022, I started my new adventure at the University of Brunel. The majority of my work is dedicated to the study of non-genetic factors causing cell-to-cell variability in signalling and metabolic pathways. At the Centre of Genome Engineering and Maintainance, I aim to dissect epigenetic mechanisms underpinning cellular variability in fate decisions.

Dr Joanna Bridger - Our research concerns how the genome is spatially organised, influenced and manipulated within its environment, the cell nucleus. The group has had a number of major advances and is currently focused on aspects of genome behaviour in replicative senescence, the premature ageing disease Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, host:pathogen interactions and female cancers. We are wish to understand how structures such as the nuclear lamina, nucleoskeleton and nuclear motors influence the functionality of the genome in health and disease. Our newest interest is in how the genome can be organised and regulated in low gravity situations and space.

Professor Felicity Gavins - Felicity read Pharmacology at the University of Sunderland, where she also embarked on an industrial placement year at Bayer Pharmaceuticals in Slough. After completing her BSc (Hons), she moved to London to study for a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Queen Mary University London, supported by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). Felicity was then awarded a BHF Junior Research Fellowship to undertake further research both in the UK and the USA. In 2007 Felicity joined Imperial College London to take up a Lectureship position in the Centre for Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology (CIMPP). This was shortly followed by a senior lectureship and the appointment to Deputy Head of The Centre of Neurodegeneration & Neuroinflammation. In 2013 she accepted an academic position in the USA at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport (LSUHSC-S) and was appointed Director of The Small Animal Imaging Facility. Felicity is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society and of the Royal Society of Biology. She joined Brunel University London in August 2019 as Professor of Pharmacology and Royal Society Wolfson Fellow, and is the Director of The Centre for Inflammation Research and Translational Medicine (CIRTM). Throughout her academic career, Felicity has worked with and served on numerous national and international research councils, medical charities and learned societies. She has published widely in her field and received a number of awards and honours for her work. She has received funding for her research from a range of funders including: the Royal Society and the Wolfson Foundation (RSWF), the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the American Heart Association (AHA), and the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH/NHLBI). Felicity continues to be actively involved in public and patient organizations which has been immensely instructive for her research. She is also dedicated to promoting mentoring and collaborative research, along with facilitating mentoring of post-doctoral fellows/early-career investigators.

Dr Bin Zhang - Dr Bin Zhang is a Lecturer in Additive Manufacturing in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She obtained her PhD from University College London, where she focused on additive manufacturing, specifically the 3D printing of drug-loaded biocomposite bone tissue scaffolds. Dr Zhang was also a visiting scholar in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University in the USA, where she worked on patterned surfaces with controllable drug doses using inkjet 3D printing and the fabrication of microneedle sensors using stereolithography 3D printing. Prior to joining Brunel University London, she had worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Pharmacy, University of East Anglia, and the Department of Engineering and Technology, University of Hertfordshire. Her research focuses on the 3D printing of micro medical devices, the development of drug-loaded devices using extrusion-based 3D printing methods, and the creation of medical training models using 3D printing techniques. Please feel free to reach out for collaboration opportunities, student positions, or other research opportunities. Qualified applications for PhD, Postdoc, and Visiting Scholar positions are welcome through the following channels: Brunel-CSC Scholarship (for Chinese students and scholars): Please reach out before December regarding a PhD position for the following year. Scholars may apply at any time. Commonwealth PhD Scholarship (for students from Commonwealth countries): Please reach out before October regarding a PhD position for the following year. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships: Calls open in April and close in September. The Royal Society Newton International Fellowships: Calls open in January and close in March. UK EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowships: Please refer to the relevant UK EPSRC website for the application deadlines.

Dr Ruth Mackay - Dr. Mackay, a Mechanical Engineer, has a keen interest in the biomedical field. She earned her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dundee in 2007. Following that, she pursued her PhD in Micro-electromechanical Systems in 2011, also at the University of Dundee, with funding from a CASE grant provided by the EPSRC in collaboration with IDB Technologies. In 2011, she joined Brunel as a Research Fellow, contributing to a translational MRC grant focused on developing point-of-care devices. Subsequently, in 2015, she assumed the role of a Lecturer at Brunel. Her research centers around organ-on-a-chip technologies, low-cost point-of-care diagnostic devices, and prosthetics. She currently leads the Organ on a Chip Group at Brunel. Additionally, she lectures in the fields of Finite Element Analysis and Medical Device Engineering.

Professor Paola Vagnarelli - Qualifications: PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Pavia, Italy Degree in Biological Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy Professional experience 1993-1996 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia Universita’ di Pavia 1997 Visiting Scientist MRC Human Genetics Unit, Edinburgh 1998- 2012 Postdoctoral Research Fellow Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology Edinburgh (Prof WC Earnshaw) 2102 Lecturer School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Department of Biosciences, Brunel University London

Dr Ines Castro - Ines is a Lecturer in Genomics since 2023. She is passionate about the genome and how genes switch ON/OFF in a timely and spatially regulated manner. She left Portugal in 2007 to study gene expression regulation in yeast (UMC Utrecht, the Netherlands) and flies (Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Netherlands). She did her PhD at Imperial College London investigating the spatial location of chromosomes in Huntington’s Disease (London, UK). During her two postdocs she looked at chromatin regulation during cell cycle (Brunel University London, UK) and HIV-1 infection (Heidelberg University/EMBL Germany). She is particularly interested at the nuclear periphery and how the genome is organised underneath the Nuclear Pore Complex, the gate of HIV-1 into the nuclei.

Dr Ashley Houlden - I am a Microbial Ecologist in the Division of Biosciences, within the College of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Brunel London. My research interests lie in the assessment of microbial community structure and function using high throughput sequencing and molecular microbiological techniques. Focusing on the Host microbiome their interaction with one another in this community and changes as a result of disease or injury, this characterisation of the communities allows the identification of functionally important changes in microbial assemblages and detection of Antimicrobial Resistance. My research has included work on the impact of stroke, brain injury, parasitic intestinal infections, and dementia on the interactions with the host and its microbiome. One of my Current research focus areas is women's health, I am studying bacterial vaginosis, the interaction of microbes present in the vagina, detection of potential pathogens, and the development of an in-house in vitro model system using Organ on a Chip technology for 3D tissue culture to simulate the vaginal environment. Linked to this I am interested in the impact that space travel and microgravity has on microbial populations and implications for health. I am also interested in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and detection of AMR in bacterial communities with a focus on the environmental impact and ecological implications of this. It is becoming increasing an issue that AMR organisms are colonising animal populations and if these pathogens are accumulated in Apex predators via food chain acquisition. My Doctorial training was in soil microbial ecology carrying out risk assessments and the efficacy of using bacterial biological control agents against fungi diseases of crops in laboratory, glass house and field experiments while at CEH-Oxford/Cardiff University. I then undertook postdoctoral research at The University of Sheffield followed by The University of Manchester continuing research into environmental microbiology looking a biogeochemical cycling of Nitrogen and sulphur. While at Manchester I moved into medical microbiome research as Researcher Co-Investigator on a grant on T. Muris and the impact on the microbiome and host. As a result of this I have formed a number of collaborations involving microbiome research.

Dr Sibylle Ermler - Sibylle Ermler is a Lecturer in Biosciences (Endocrinology and Metabolism) in the Department of Life Sciences. She joined Brunel as a Research Fellow in Human Toxicology. She has expertise in the impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and genotoxicants on human and environmental health. Her research focuses on metabolic disorders and obesity, with additional interest in male and female reproductive health, and the developmental origins of health and disease. Furthermore, she is an expert in mixture toxicology with an interest in the translation of (mixture-) toxicology into chemical risk assessment. Sibylle’s research has a focus on the development and application of novel in vitro approaches with the aim of creating human relevant models for human disease, and reducing the requirement for animal testing. Additional interdisciplinary research interests include the impact of climate change on food systems and on human development and health. University positions 2022-current:Lecturer in Biosciences (Endocrinology and Metabolism), Life Sciences, Brunel University London 2011-2022: Research Fellow, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Brunel University London 2007-2011: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Toxicology, UCL School of Pharmacy, London

Dr Camilla Cerutti - Dr Camilla Cerutti is a Lecturer in Inflammation, Ageing and Cancer Biology at Brunel University London and visiting researcher at the European Institute of Oncology since 2023. Her research focuses on Vascular and Cancer cell biology in particular on cell-cell interaction and cancer metastasis. Camilla graduated in medical Biotechnology (BSc) at the University of Milan Bicocca in Italy. At the same university she completed a MSc in Industrial Biotechnology-Pharmacogenomic- in 2009 with an ERASMUS final project placement of one year at Complutense University in Madrid, Spain. Here, she investigated the anti-tumoral effects of cannabinoids on breast cancer via JunD in vitro and via Akt in vivo (Caffarel et al. 2008 and 2010). She completed her PhD in neuro-vascular immunology in 2014 at The Open University in Milton Keynes, UK, studying the role of human brain endothelial microRNAs in leukocyte adhesion in neurodegenerative disorder such as multiple sclerosis. She developed an microfluidic system to model the interaction of human leukocyte with brain endothelial cells under hemodynamic shear forces in vitro (Cerutti et al 2022). She found that human brain endothelial mir-155, mir-126 and mir-126* regulate leukocyte trafficking at the blood-brain barrier in inflammatory conditions (Cerutti et al 2016 and 2017, Wu 2015). Dr Cerutti joined the Ridley`s Lab at KCL, London, as research associate postdoc, where she investigated the role of RhoGTPases in human breast and prostate cancer cells in the interaction with endothelial cells and during metastasis formation (Cerutti et al 2021;and Cerutti et al 2024). This CRUK funded project in collaboration with Prof Muschel Lab at the University of Oxford (Lucotti et al 2019) was further developed as senior research associate postdoc at the University of Bristol leading to find that IQGAP1 and NWASP promote human cancer cell dissemination and metastasis by regulating β1-integrin via FAK and MRTF/SRF. In 2018 she won a Global Research Development Fund from KCL to join Peter Searson Nanobiotechnology Lab at the John Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA) to learn the fabrication of 3D perfusable vascular microvessels. In 2020 Camilla was awarded the iCARE-2 MSCA H2020 fellowship as principal investigator of the project -Single-cell epigenetic and molecular signatures in human breast cancer metastasis formation - reintegration fellowship in the host lab of Professor Pier Giuseppe Pelicci at the European Institute of Oncology. Currently, Dr Cerutti lab at Brunel University London investigates cancer metastasis mechanisms with 2D and 3D vascular models to study cell-cell interactions by high-content live-cell imaging.

Dr Emmanouil Karteris - Dr Manos Karteris graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Surrey in 1995. He then was awarded an MSc with Distinction in Medical Genetics with Immunology from Brunel University London in 1996 and completed his PhD in Molecular Endocrinology from the University of Warwick in 2000. He then undertook post-doctoral appointments at the University of Warwick, including a prestigious VIP Research Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust. He was appointed as Lecturer in Endocrinology at the University of Warwick from 2005-2006 and then he transferred to Brunel University London as a Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences in June 2006. Currently he is a Reader in the Division of Biomedical Sciences. Dr Karteris is the Departmental Director International.

Related Research Group(s)

Organ-on-a-Chip - The group’s main research focus is on women’s health and developing four main organ-on-a-chip (OOC) models: the breast, vagina, ovary, and placenta.

Genome Engineering and Maintenance - Diverse research network focused on molecular, cellular, organismal and computational aspects of genome biology.

Partnering with confidence

Organisations interested in our research can partner with us with confidence backed by an external and independent benchmark: The Knowledge Exchange Framework. Read more.

Project last modified 06/12/2024