Staff Profile

PhD VACANCIES – we are always open to informal enquiries from prospective PhD students, whether Home/EU or non-EU. Please feel free to email me if you are interested (tim.cheek@ncl.ac.uk)

 

Roles and Responsibilities

Dean of Postgraduate Research

 

Qualifications

 

BSc (Hons), Sheffield City Polytechnic (CNAA) 1984

PhD, University of Liverpool 1987

 

Previous Positions

Post-doctoral Researcher, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge 1987-1998 

(Royal Society University Research Fellow, 1992-96; Official Fellow, Girton College 1996-1998)

Newcastle University 1998-present   

 

Research Interests

The mechanisms and functions of intracellular Ca² signals. Specifically the role of Ca² signals in electrically excitable (neuronal) cell types.

Current work

Ca² signalling in neuronal development

Neurones in the brain are the result of differentiation of neuronal stem cells during development. One of the goals in modern neurobiology is to understand the molecular mechanisms controlling neuronal differentiation, as the ability to produce neurones in vitro will have enormous implications for treatment of neurological disorders and age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Stimulus-induced changes in the concentration of intracellular fee Ca2 underlie many aspects of neuronal cell function, including differentiation, and Ca2 signalling dysfunction has been implicated in a number neurological diseases and disorders.

Our group discovered that the switch from proliferation to differentiation in human neuroblastoma cells is accompanied by a switch in two key Ca² signalling pathways; one pathway (store-operated Ca² entry) becomes down-regulated, while there is a functional upregulation of a non-store-operated pathway.

We are using a combination of molecular, biochemical and cellular techniques to understand the molecular mechanisms that coordinate the switch in Ca² signalling pathways and to unravel the role that the switch plays in driving and maintaining the differentiation response.

Funding

Research in our laboratory is funded by the MRC, the BBSRC and the Wellcome Trust.

Undergraduate

BSc (Hons) - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3

BDS - Stage 1

MBBS - Stage 1, Stage 2

Accelerated MBBS - Stage 1

 

• Hudson L, Begg M, Wright B, Cheek TR, Jahoda CAB, Reynolds NJ. Dominant effect of gap junction communication in wound-induced calcium wave, NFAT activation and wound closure in keratinocytes. Journal of Cellular Physiology 2021, 236(12), 8171-8183.
• Whitworth CL, Redfern CPF, Cheek TR. Differentiation-induced remodelling of store-operated calcium entry is independent of neuronal or glial phenotype but modulated by cellular context. Molecular Neurobiology 2019, 56(2), 857-872.
• Edwards N, Anderson CMH, Conlon NJ, Watson AK, Hall RJ, Cheek TR, Embley TM, Thwaites DT. Resculpting the binding pocket of APC superfamily LeuT-fold amino acid transporters. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 2018, 75(5), 921-938.
• Bell N, Hann V, Redfern CPF, Cheek TR. Store-operated Ca²⁺ entry in proliferating and retinoic acid-differentiated N- and S-type neuroblastoma cells. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta: Molecular Cell Research 2013, 1833(3), 643-651.
• Conlon NJ, Edwards N, Anderson CMH, Cheek TR, Thwaites DT. Rheogenic amino acid transport by Drosophila CG4991 of the Amino Acid Auxin Permease (AAAP) transporter family. FASEB Journal 2013, 27, 732-735.
• Heer R, Clarke N, Rigas AC, Cheek TR, Pickard R, Leung HY. Phenotypic Modulation of Human Urinary Tract Stroma-derived Fibroblasts by Transforming Growth Factor β3. Urology 2010, 76(2), 509.e13-509.e20.
• Sattelle DB, Cordova D, Cheek TR. Insect ryanodine receptors: Molecular targets for novel pest control chemicals. Invertebrate Neuroscience 2008, 8(3), 107-119.
• Tottey S, Waldron KJ, Firbank SJ, Reale B, Bessant C, Sato K, Cheek TR, Gray J, Banfield MJ, Dennison C, Robinson NJ. Protein-folding location can regulate manganese-binding versus copper- or zinc-binding. Nature 2008, 455(7216), 1138-1142.
• Riddoch, F.C., Brown, A.M., Rowbotham, S.E., Redfern, C.P.F., Cheek, T.R. Changes in functional properties of the caffeine-sensitive Ca2+ store during differentiation of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Cell Calcium 2007, 41(3), 195-206.
• Clarke N, Heer R, Cheek T, Leung T, Pickard R. Changing the phenotype of urethral stroma by treatment with transforming growth factor beta-3. European Urology Supplements 2007, 6(2), 138-138.
• Cheek TR, Thorn P. A constitutively active nonselective cation conductance underlies resting Ca²⁺ influx and secretion in bovine adrenal chromaffin cells. Cell Calcium 2006, 40(3), 309-318.
• Brown, A.M., Riddoch, F.C, Robson, A., Redfern, C.P.F., Cheek, T.R. Mechanistic and functional changes in Ca2+ entry after retinoic acid-induced differentiation of neuroblastoma cells. Biochemical Journal 2005, 388(3), 941-948.
• Riddoch, F.C., Rowbotham, S.E., Brown, A.M., Redfern, C.P.F., Cheek, T.R. Release and sequestration of Ca2+ by a caffeine- and ryanodine-sensitive store in a sub-population of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Cell Calcium 2005, 38(2), 111-120.
• Brown AM, Riddoch FC, Redfern CPF, Cheek TR. Changes in Ca2+ entry mechanisms following retinoic acid-induced differentiation of neuroblastoma cells. In: Meeting of the Physiological Society. 2002, University of Leeds, Leeds, England: Journal of Physiology: The Physiological Society.