Assistant Professor
I completed my undergraduate masters in Physics (MPhys) at Durham University in the UK in 2006, and became particularly interested in imaging and microscopy. I decided to follow this interest and undertake a multisiciplinary PhD at the University of Edinburgh, designed to integrate physical scientists with biologists to undertake novel approaches to cardiovascular biology. This programme included an MRes in Cardiovascular Biology (2010) as well as a PhD (2011-2015). I complete my PhD in Prof. John Mullins’ group, where I studied how renin, a key enzyme involved in blood pressure regulation, is synthesised, trafficked and secreted from renin-producing cells in the kidney. My first post doctoral position was also at the University of Edinburgh, establishing a method to use a home built light sheet system to ablate specific cell populations in larval zebrafish and image the physiological outcomes. I was then a facility manager of the light micriscopy imaging facility in the Queen’s Medical Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh, running state-of-the-art confocal, multiphoton and lightsheet systems, before moving to the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow to undertake my second post doctoral position with Prof. John McCarron. In Prof McCarron’s group I became interested in Ca2+ dynamics in the vascular endothelium, in particular the role of IP3 and IP3Rs in vascular signalling pathways.
charlotte.buckley@strath.ac.uk
PUBLICATIONS
Buckley, C, Lee, MD, Zhang, X, Wilson, C, McCarron, JG 2024, 'Signalling switches maintain intercellular communication in the vascular endothelium'. British Journal of Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.16366
Zhang, X, Buckley, C, Lee, MD, MacDonald, M, Wilson, C, McCarron, JG 2024, 'Increased TRPV4 channel expression enhances and impairs blood vessel function in hypertension'. Biorxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.27.587031
Zhang, X, Lee MD, Buckley, C, Hollenberg, MD, Wilson, C, McCarron, JG 2023, 'Endothelial PAR2 activation evokes resistance artery relaxation'. Journal of Cellular Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcp.30973
Wilson, C, Lee MD, Buckley, C, Zhang, X, McCarron, JG 2022, 'Mitochondrial ATP production is required for endothelial cell control of vascular tone'. Function. https://doi.org/10.1093/function/zqac063
Loughlin SR, Costello HM, Roe AJ, Buckley C, Wilson SM, Bailey MA, Mansley MK, 2022, 'Mapping the Transcriptome Underpinning Acute Corticosteroid Action within the Cortical Collecting Duct'. Kidney360. DOI: 10.34067/KID.0003582022
Buckley C, L'Huillier N, Mullins L, Semprini S, Christian H, Mullins JJ, 2022, 'Late Fetal and Newborn Granulopoiesis but not Active Renin is Increased by Maternal Captopril Treatment During Perinatal Kidney Development'. Biorxiv, DOI: 10.1101/2022.05.15.491999
Lee MD, Buckley C, Zhang, X, Louhivuori, L, Uhlen, P, Wilson, C, McCarron, JG, 2022, 'Small-world connectivity dictates collective endothelial cell signaling'. PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2118927119
Hoffman S, Mullins L, Rider S, Brown C, Buckley C, Assmus A, Li Z, Betlran MS, Henderson N, del Pozo J, Martini ADG, Sequeira-Lopez MLS, Gomez RA, Mullins J, 2022, 'Comparative Studies of Renin-Null Zebrafish and Mice Provide New Functional Insights'. Hypertension. DOI: 110.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.121.18600
Zhang, X, Lee MD, Buckley C, Wilson, C, McCarron, JG, 2022, 'Mitochondria regulate TRPV4 mediated release of ATP'. British Journal of Pharmacology. DOI: 10.1111/bph.15687
Wilson, C, Lee MD, Buckley C, Zhang, X, McCarron, JG, 2021, 'Mitochondrial ATP production is required for endothelial cell control of vascular tone'. bioRxiv. DOI: 10.1101/2021.09.14.460297
Ivy JR, Carter RN, Zhao JF, Buckley, C, ....., Chapman KE, 2021, 'Glucocorticoids regulate mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation in fetal cardiomyocytes'. Journal of Physiology. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1113/JP28186...
Buckley, C, 'Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy'. Imaging Modalities for Biological and Preclinical Research: A compendium, Volume 1, IoP Science, Pages 1.3a-1 to 1.3.a-9
Buckley, C, Zhang, X, Wilson, C, McCarron, JG, 2021, 'Carbenoxolone and 18b-glycyrrhetinic acid inhibit IP3-mediated endothelial cell calcium signalling and depolarise mitochondria'. British Journal of Pharmacology. DOI: 10.1111/bph.15329
Kaveh, A, Bruton, FA, Buckley, C, Oremek, M, Tucker, CS, Mullins, JJ, Taylor, JM, Rossi, AG, Denvir, MA, 2020, 'Live imaging of heart injury in larval zebrafish reveals a multi-stage model of neutrophils and macrophage migration'. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.579943
Wilson, C, Zhang, X, Lee, MD, MacDonald, M, Heathcote, HR, Alorfi, NMN, Buckley, C, Dolan, S, McCarron, JG 2019, 'Disrupted endothelial cell heterogeneity and network organization impair vascular function in prediabetic obesity'. Metabolism. DOI: 10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154340
Buckley, C, Wilson, C, McCarron, JG 2019, 'FK506 regulates IP3-evoked Ca2+ release independently of FKBP in endothelial cells'. British Journal of Pharmacology. DOI: 10.1111/bph.14905
Taylor, JM, Nelson, CJ, Bruton, FA, Baghbadrani, AK, Buckley, C, Tucker, CS, Rossi, AG, Mullins, JJ, Denvir, MA 2019, 'Adaptive prospective optical gating enables day-long 3D time-lapse imaging of the beating embryonic zebrafish heart'. Nature Communiation. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13112-6
Lawton, PF, Buckley, C, Saunter CD, Wilson, C, Corbett AD, Salter PS, McCarron, JG, Girkin JM 2019, 'Multi-plane remote refocusing epifluorescence microscopy to image dynamic Ca2+ events'. Biomedical Optics Express. DOI: 10.1364/BOE.10.005611
Wilson, C, Zhang, X, Buckley, C, Heathcote, H, Lee, MD, McCarron, JG 2019, 'Increased Vascular Contractility in Hypertension Results From Impaired Endothelial Calcium Signaling' Hypertension. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.119.13791
McCarron, JG, Wilson, C, Heathcote, H, Zhang, X, Buckley, C, and Lee, MD (2019). Heterogeneity and emergent behaviour in the vascular endothelium. Current Opinions in Pharmacology DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2019.03.008
Wilson, C, Lee, MD, Heathcote, H, Zhang, X, Buckley, C, Girkin, JM, Saunter, CD, McCarron, JG 2019, 'Mitochondrial ATP production provides long-range control of endothelial inositol trisphosphate–evoked calcium signaling' Journal of Biological Chemistry. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.005913.
Hoffmann, S, Mullins, LJ, Buckley, C, Rider, S & Mullins, JJ 2018, 'Investigating the RAS can be a fishy business: interdisciplinary opportunities using Zebrafish', Clinical Science. DOI: 10.1042/CS20180721
Buckley, C, Nelson, RJ, Mullins, LJ, Sharp, MG, Fleming, S, Kenyon, CJ, Semprini, S, Steppan, D, Peti-Peterdi, J, Kurtz, A, Christian, H & Mullins, JJ 2018, 'Phenotypic dissection of the mouse Ren-1(d) knockout by complementation with human renin' Journal of Biological Chemistry. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA117.000160
Buckley, C, Carvalho, MT, Young, LK, Rider, SA, McFadden, C, Berlage, C, Verdon, RF, Taylor, JM, Girkin, JM & Mullins, JJ 2017, 'Precise spatio-temporal control of rapid optogenetic cell ablation with mem-KillerRed in Zebrafish' Scientific Reports, vol 7, no. 1, pp. 5096. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05028-2
Buckley, C, Dun, AR, Peter, A, Bellamy, C, Gross, KW, Duncan, RR & Mullins, JJ 2017, 'Bimodal dynamics of granular organelles in primary renin-expressing cells revealed using TIRF microscopy' American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology, vol 312, no. 1, pp. F200-F209. DOI: 10.1152/ajprenal.00384.2016
Vliegenthart, A.D.B., Wei, C., Buckley, C., Berends, C., de Potter, C.M., Schneemann, S., Del Pozo, J., Tucker, C., Mullins, J.J., Webb, D.J. and Dear, J.W., 2017. Characterization of triptolide-induced hepatotoxicity by imaging and transcriptomics in a novel zebrafish model. Toxicological Sciences, 159(2), pp.380-391. DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfx144
Stefanska, A, Kenyon, C, Christian, HC, Buckley, C, Shaw, I, Mullins, JJ & Péault, B 2016, 'Human kidney pericytes produce renin' Kidney International. DOI: 10.1016/j.kint.2016.07.035
RESEARCH LINES
The endothelium is a sophisticated coordination centre that control’s a wide range of vascular functions, including blood pressure regulation and blood flow via changes in vascular contractility. To coordinate vascular function, cell communication and interactions are required for tissue level responses to emerge. Ca2+ propagation between cells (Ca2+ waves) is widely considered the driving force of this signal propagation, either via diffusion through gap junctions, an extracellular factor or electrical coupling. To study this, I use state of the art microscopy for Ca2+ imaging in live tissue preparations and primary cells. Using a combination of localised and local drug application, as well as specific light-activated intravital dyes to manipulate Ca2+ activity, and use home-built and standard image analysis quantification techniques. My research will also involved probing this fundamentally important signalling system using transgenic zebrafish lines and light sheet imaging.
PROJECTS
Active
N/A
Completed
2020-2023: BHF Project grant, ‘Mitochondrial amplification of local calcium entry and vascular contraction in hypertenstion’ (£263,268; John McCarron, Susan Chalmers, Charlotte Buckley, Calum Wilson)
2020 – 2025: BHF Programme grant, ‘A multicellular endothelial signalling web coordinates vascular function and is impaired in hypertension’, (£1M, John McCarron, Per Uhlen, Rhian Touyz, Charlotte Buckley, Calum Wilson)
2019: Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) ECR Development Funding Grant (£4000)
2019: Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) Fund with Scottish Microscopy Society for establishing workshops (£3000)
2016: Society for Endocrinology Young Gesearchers Grant (£10000)
NETWORK
International
Vascular Imaging Group, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Molecular physiology of small vessels, Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh