Francesca Peters

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences
• Using MEMRI and Evans Blue to compare calcium uptake between Mdx and Black 10 mice brains

My project will contribute to studies which are investigating the understanding and improvement of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). It is known that in DMD, muscle cells have an increased intracellular concentration of calcium. In the project, I used Manganese-enhanced MRI, with manganese acting as a marker for calcium, and Evans Blue dye, checking blood brain barrier integrity (as low integrity would provide a possible explanation for a higher uptake of manganese). These non-invasive techniques were carried out on mdx (a model for DMD) and Black10 mice (control), to gain an understanding of the effects of DMD on the brain.

Funding source: Newcastle University