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Our research in musculoskeletal health and disease
The Davidson lab investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying joint tissue homeostasis and how dietary phytochemicals might interact with these to promote musculoskeletal health and prevent disease throughout the life course. We are interested in how compounds and their metabolites augment homeostatic function focussing on metalloproteinase regulation of the extracellular matrix. Our disease areas of interest are osteoarthritis and Dupuytren’s disease.
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Group Leader: Rose Davidson
Read my online research profileI completed my bachelors with honors degree at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, spending a year working with the protein structure discovery group at Pfizer Ltd in Sandwich (UK). I undertook my PhD at the University of East Anglia (UEA) focussing on matrix metalloproteinases in joint tissues and undertook my post-doctoral training in the School of Biological Sciences (UEA). I then led a clinical diagnostics lab in collaboration with Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Foundation Trust for two years before setting up my research group in the Norwich Medical School, UK in 2022.
Postgraduate Opportunities
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss potential PhD opportunities.
Augmentation of joint tissue homestasis
We investigate the effects of compounds normally found in plants and consumed in the diet, (dietary phytochemicals and their metabolites), and their effects on chondrocytes and synovial fibroblasts during inflammation. Our early work focussed on a compound commonly found in brassicas called sulforaphane and described a mechanism by which it can regulate NFkB signalling in models of osteoarthritis (OA). This work progressed from laboratory models to experimental medicine where we showed that through the diet, this compound can reach the target tissues of the joint in OA patients and significantly alter the synovial fluid proteome. More recently we have designed a feasibility trial to test dietary compounds for impacts on joint pain and function in OA patients.
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DISCOVER Platform
We are developing automated, molecular workflows to identify phytochemical and/or metabolite bioactivity in cell models of inflammation at scale. We use multifactorial testing to identify synergistic interactions between phytochemicals within whole foods and from multiple sources, both common and rare in the habitual diet and across chemical classes. DISCOVER enables us to identify and interrogate dietary phytochemical bioactivities, molecular mechanisms and interactions across in vitro models of inflammation, to improve translation of data coming from lab models into humans.
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Dupuytren’s Disease
Dupuytren’s Disease (DD) is a fibroproliferative disease that manifests in the palmar fascia, and over time, causes one or more digits to irreversibly contract toward the palm. Depending on the severity of contraction this can significantly impact hand function. Matrix metalloproteinase 14 (MMP14) is associated with DD severity and recurrence as are several SNPs. We are investigating the role of SNPs associated with DD using in vitro cell modelling methods.
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Our recent publications
The BRoccoli In Osteoarthritis (BRIO study) - A randomised controlled feasibility trial to examine the potential protective effect of broccoli bioactives, (specifically sulforaphane), on osteoarthritis
Rose K Davidson, Laura Watts, Gemma Beasy, Shikha Saha, Paul Kroon, Aedin Cassidy, Allan Clark, William Fraser, Iain Mcnamara, Sarah R Kingsbury, Philip G Conaghan, Ian M Clark, Alex Macgregor 2024. medRxiv 2024.06.20.24309233;Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in a UK university identifies dynamics of transmission
Aggarwal, D, Warne, B, Jahun, AS, et al; 2022, Nature Communications, vol. 13, 751.Assessing transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 in England
Volz, E, Mishra, S, Chand, M, et al; 2021, , Nature, vol. 593, no. 7858, pp. 266-269.Identifying chondroprotective diet-derived bioactives and investigating their synergism
Davidson, RK, Green, J, Gardner, S, et al; 2018, Scientific Reports, vol. 8, 17173.Isothiocyanates are detected in human synovial fluid following broccoli consumption and can affect the tissues of the knee joint
Davidson, R, Gardner, S, Jupp, O, et al; 2017, Scientific Reports, vol. 7, 3398.