Dr Cathy Merry

Cathy Merry graduated in Biochemistry from The University of Manchester in 1995. As part of this course, she spent a year working for Amgen Inc. in California. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Manchester (1999), transferring to the Paterson Institute where she worked with Professor John Gallagher in Medical Oncology.

Following on from her Ph.D. studies, during which she developed and patented a novel method for sequencing heparan sulphate (HS), she stayed within Medical Oncology to establish facilities for the culture and study of embryonic stem (ES) cells. Over the next six years, Cathy was able to exploit the use of various developmental models with which to study the biological effects of alteration of HS structure. As part of these studies, ES cells became a central focus, and three studentships, a Post Doc and a senior technician within the Medical Oncology group were dedicated to this research area. The group published the first detailed analysis of ES cell HS in early 2006.

In March 2006 Cathy joined the Biomaterials group in the School of Materials. Working within the Manchester Stem Cell Network, her main interests are in the role of cell surface and extracellular matrix molecules in influencing cell fate. Glycobiology remains a central theme, with glycosaminoglycans of particular interest. Future projects will focus on the use of various biomaterials to provide scaffolds to promote the culture of ES cells, either to scale-up their growth in the pluripotent state or to direct differentiation to specific cell types.

• Use of bioactive polymers to enable large scale production of pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (Joint BBSRC funded project with Prof. Len Seymour (Oxford) and Dr Chris Ward (Dentistry) starting June 2006)
• Combining electrospun laminin nanofibres and heparan sulphate oligosaccarides for optimal human embryonic stem cell culture (Joint PhD project with Dr Chris Ward (Dentistry), Prof Sandra Downes (Biomaterials) and Dr Steve Eichhorn (Biomaterials) starting January 2007, Kate Mead)
• Altering cadherin and proteoglycan expression in embryonic stem cells to induce differentiation to mineralised tissue within 3-dimensional self assembling peptide hydrogels (Joint PhD project with Dr Chris Ward (Dentistry) and Dr Rein Ulijn (Biomaterials) starting September 2006
• Heparan Sulphate and Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation (Post Doctoral Research project based at the Paterson Institute, Claire Johnson)
• Role of Specific Sulphation Patterns in Embryonic Stem Cell Biology (PhD project based at the Paterson Institue, Annie Wat)
• Role of the extracelluar sufatases Sulf 1 and Sulf 2 in HS mediated processes (Joint PhD project, with Dr Valerie Kouskoff (Stem Cell Biology) based at the Paterson Institute, Rebecca Baldwin)

• Heparan sulphate 6-O-endosulphatases-discrete in vivo activities and functional cooperativity. William C. Lamanna, Rebecca J. Baldwin, Michael Padva, Ina Kalus, Gerdy ten Dam, Toin van Kuppevelt John T. Gallagher, Kurt von Figura,Thomas Dierks, Catherine L. R. Merry. In final review
• Essential Alterations in Heparan Sulphate Composition and Distribution during the Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells to Neuroectodermal Precursors. Claire E. Johnson, Brett E. Crawford, Marios Stavridis, Gerdy ten Dam, Matthew Brown, Annie L. Wat, Rebecca J. Baldwin, Graham Rushton, Christopher M. Ward, Valerie Wilson, Toin H. van Kuppevelt, Jeffrey D. Esko, Austin Smith, John T. Gallagher, Catherine L.R. Merry. In final review
• The morphogenic properties of oligomeric endostatin are dependent on cell surface heparan sulphate. Clamp, A., Blackhall, F.H., Henrioud, A., Jayson, G.C., Javaherian, K., Esko, J., Gallagher, J.T., Merry, C.L.R. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2006 Feb 15; [Epub ahead of print]
• Glycoscience finally comes of age. Merry, A.H. and Merry, C.L.R. EMBO Rep. 2005 Oct;6(10):900-3.
• Detection of 2-O-sulfated iduronate and N-acetylglucosamine units in heparan sulphate by an antibody selected against acharan sulphate ten Dam, G., van de Westerlo, E.M., Smetesers, T.F., Willemse, M., van Muijen, G.N., Merry, C.L.R., Gallagher, J.T., Kim Y.S., van Kuppevelt, T.H. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2004 279:37 38346-38352
• A new model for the domain structure of heparan sulphate based on the novel specificity of K5 lyase Murphy, K.J., Merry, C.L.R., Lyon, M., Roberts, I.S., Thompson, J.E., Gallagher, J.T. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2004 26 279:26 27239-27245
• Heparan Sulphate 2-O-sulphotransferase (Hs2st) and mouse development Wilson, V., Gallagher, J.T., Merry, C.L.R. Glycoconjugate Journal 2003 19 347-354
• Binding of endostatin to endothelial heparan sulphate shows a differential requirement for specific sulphates Blackhall, F., Merry, C., Lyon, M., Jason, G.,Folkman, J., Javaherian, K.,Gallagher, J. Biochemical Journal 2003 375 131-139
• Not all perlecans are created equal: interactions with fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) and FGF receptors Knox, S, Merry, C.L.R., Stringer, S, Melrose, J., Whitelock, J. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2002 April 26 277:17 14657-14665
• New insights into heparan sulphate biosynthesis from the study of mutant mice Merry, C.L.R., and Gallagher, J.T. Biochem. Soc. Symp. 2002 69 47-57
• Role of heparan sulphate 2-O-sulphotransferase in the mouse Merry, C.L.R., Wilson, V.A. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 2002 1573 (3) 319-327
• The molecular phenotype of heparan sulphate in the Hs2st-/- mutant mouse Merry, C.L.R., Bullock, S.L., Swan, D.C., Backen, A.C., Lyon, M., Beddington, R.S.P., Wilson, V.A,. Gallagher, J.T.G. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2001 September 21 276:38 35429-35434
• Heparan sulphate proteoglycans and Cancer. Blackhall, F.H., Merry, C.L.R., Davies, E.J., Jayson, G.C. British Journal of Cancer 2001 85 1094-1098