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Research Focus

Keywords

  • Ageing
  • Healthy Ageing
  • Remyelination
  • Methylation
  • Biomarkers
  • MRI
  • Clinical Conditions

  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Dementia
  • Stroke
  • Equipment & Techniques

  • Cross-sectional and cohort studies
  • Randomised control trials
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    Dr Chris McMurran PhD MRCP

    University Position
    Academic Clinical Fellow

    Interests

    I am an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurology. My research focuses on brain ageing and the application of longevity medicine to the realm of neurological health and disease. I study ways of measuring "biological age" (including clinical blood biomarkers, DNA methylation signatures and brain MRI) to track the physiological changes that occur during ageing. This framework allow us to consider how individuals age with different trajectories, and consider how therapeutic interventions might influence these paths. In collaboration with colleagues at the Karolinska Institute, I have shown that a higher biological age relative to chronological age increases one's future risk of neurological disorders including stroke and dementia. I am particularly interested in whether the biological age of people with multiple sclerosis is a determinant of remyelination, neurodegeneration and ultimately disability outcomes. I am a co-investigator on the CCMR Two trial, which tests metformin - a drug with promising gerotherapeutic properties - alongside the anti-muscarinic clemastine to encourage remyelination in people with multiple sclerosis.

    Myelin tracts in the cerebellum

    Neurons (red) ensheathed in myelin (green) in the cerebellum. Remyelination is a remarkable example of regeneration in the human central nervous system, but fails with increasing age.

    Key Publications

    Bexarotene leads to durable improvements in visual evoked potential latency: A follow-up study of the Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair One trial.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/13524585241233177
    Journal: Multiple Sclerosis Journal
    E-pub date: 1 Jul 2024
    Authors: CE McMurran, T Mukherjee, JWL Brown, AJ Coles, NG Cunniffe

    Advanced biological ageing predicts future risk for neurological diagnoses and clinical examination findings.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad252
    Journal: Brain
    E-pub date: 1 Dec 2023
    Authors: CE McMurran, Y Wang, JKL Mak, IK Karlsson, B Tang, A Ploner, NL Pedersen, S Hägg

    Remyelination in humans due to a retinoid-X receptor agonist is age-dependent.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51595
    Journal: Ann Clin Transl Neurol
    E-pub date: 1 Jul 2022
    Authors: CE McMurran, T Mukherjee, JWL Brown, AW Michell, DT Chard, RJM Franklin, AJ Coles, NG Cunniffe

    The microbiota regulates murine inflammatory responses to toxin-induced CNS demyelination but has minimal impact on remyelination.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1905787116
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 10 Dec 2019
    Authors: CE McMurran, A Guzman de la Fuente, R Penalva, O Ben Menachem-Zidon, Y Dombrowski, J Falconer, GA Gonzalez, C Zhao, FN Krause, AMH Young, JL Griffin, CA Jones, C Hollins, MM Heimesaat, DC Fitzgerald, RJM Franklin

    Publications

    Ageing impairs the regenerative capacity of regulatory T cells in mouse central nervous system remyelination.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45742-w
    Journal: Nat Commun
    E-pub date: 11 Mar 2024
    Authors: AG de la Fuente, M Dittmer, EJ Heesbeen, N de la Vega Gallardo, JA White, A Young, T McColgan, A Dashwood, K Mayne, S Cabeza-Fernández, J Falconer, FJ Rodriguez-Baena, CE McMurran, M Inayatullah, KS Rawji, RJM Franklin, J Dooley, A Liston, RJ Ingram, VK Tiwari, R Penalva, Y Dombrowski, DC Fitzgerald

    Ageing impairs the regenerative capacity of regulatory T cells in central nervous system remyelination

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.25.525562
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2023
    Authors: AG de la Fuente, M Dittmer, E Heesbeen, N de la Vega Gallardo, J White, A Young, K Mayne, J Falconer, CE McMurran, M Innayatullah, R Ingram, V Tiwari, R Penalva, Y Dombrowski, DC Fitzgerald

    Regulatory T cells limit age-associated retinal inflammation and neurodegeneration

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.11.561874
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2023
    Authors: M Llorián-Salvador, A de Fuente, C McMurran, R Penalva, Y Dombrowski, A Stitt, D Fitzgerald

    Clinical biomarker-based biological aging and risk of cancer in the UK Biobank.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-023-02288-w
    Journal: Br J Cancer
    E-pub date: 1 Jul 2023
    Authors: JKL Mak, CE McMurran, R Kuja-Halkola, P Hall, K Czene, J Jylhävä, S Hägg

    Immune-stem cell crosstalk in the central nervous system: how oligodendrocyte progenitor cells interact with immune cells.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/imcb.12610
    Journal: Immunol Cell Biol
    E-pub date: 1 Jan 2023
    Authors: S Cabeza-Fernández, JA White, CE McMurran, JA Gómez-Sánchez, AG de la Fuente

    A map of transcriptional heterogeneity and regulatory variation in human microglia.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00875-2
    Journal: Nat Genet
    E-pub date: 1 Jun 2021
    Authors: AMH Young, N Kumasaka, F Calvert, TR Hammond, A Knights, N Panousis, JS Park, J Schwartzentruber, J Liu, K Kundu, M Segel, NA Murphy, CE McMurran, H Bulstrode, J Correia, KP Budohoski, A Joannides, MR Guilfoyle, R Trivedi, R Kirollos, R Morris, MR Garnett, I Timofeev, I Jalloh, K Holland, R Mannion, R Mair, C Watts, SJ Price, PJ Kirkpatrick, T Santarius, E Mountjoy, M Ghoussaini, N Soranzo, OA Bayraktar, B Stevens, PJ Hutchinson, RJM Franklin, DJ Gaffney

    Changes in the Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Proteome with Ageing.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.RA120.002102
    Journal: Mol Cell Proteomics
    E-pub date: 31 Aug 2020
    Authors: AG de la Fuente, RML Queiroz, T Ghosh, CE McMurran, JF Cubillos, DE Bergles, DC Fitzgerald, CA Jones, KS Lilley, CP Glover, RJM Franklin

    Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease: Is the Adaptive Immune System a Friend or Foe?

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2020.572090
    Journal: Front Aging Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2020
    Authors: K Mayne, JA White, CE McMurran, FJ Rivera, AG de la Fuente

    Toxin-Based Models to Investigate Demyelination and Remyelination.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9072-6_21
    Journal: Methods Mol Biol
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2019
    Authors: CE McMurran, C Zhao, RJM Franklin

    An integrated genomic analysis of anaplastic meningioma identifies prognostic molecular signatures.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-31659-0
    Journal: Sci Rep
    E-pub date: 10 Sep 2018
    Authors: G Collord, P Tarpey, N Kurbatova, I Martincorena, S Moran, M Castro, T Nagy, G Bignell, F Maura, MD Young, J Berna, JMC Tubio, CE McMurran, AMH Young, M Sanders, I Noorani, SJ Price, C Watts, E Leipnitz, M Kirsch, G Schackert, D Pearson, A Devadass, Z Ram, VP Collins, K Allinson, MD Jenkinson, R Zakaria, K Syed, CO Hanemann, J Dunn, MW McDermott, RW Kirollos, GS Vassiliou, M Esteller, S Behjati, A Brazma, T Santarius, U McDermott

    To MB/PhD or not to MB/PhD.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/tct.12724
    Journal: Clin Teach
    E-pub date: 31 Aug 2018
    Authors: JC Wan, AE Teo, CE McMurran, V Rawji

    Clinical implications of myelin regeneration in the central nervous system.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/14737175.2018.1421458
    Journal: Expert Rev Neurother
    E-pub date: 1 Feb 2018
    Authors: CE McMurran, S Kodali, A Young, RJ Franklin

    Student-run medical journals: Supporting the future of medical academia.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2016.1219025
    Journal: Med Teach
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2016
    Authors: JCM Wan, CE McMurran, AED Teo

    CNS Remyelination and the Innate Immune System.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2016.00038
    Journal: Front Cell Dev Biol
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2016
    Authors: CE McMurran, CA Jones, DC Fitzgerald, RJM Franklin