Dr Chavaunne Thorpe
Department: Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Campus: Camden
Research Groups: Musculoskeletal Biology, CPCS (Research Programme)
Chavaunne is a Lecturer in Basic Sciences with an interest in tendon homeostasis, ageing and repair.
Chavaunne obtained a 1st class BSc (Hons) in Equine Science from the University of Bristol in 2005. She completed her PhD in Tendon Matrix Biology at UCL in 2010 under the supervision of Profs Helen Birch and Peter Clegg. She then moved to Queen Mary University of London to work with Prof Hazel Screen, undertaking post-doctoral research using a combination of biological and engineering techniques to study tendon structure function relationships. These novel findings resulted in further funding from the BBSRC and Arthritis Research UK. She moved to the RVC in 2016 to take up an Arthritis Research UK Career Development fellowship to study the role of the tendon progenitor cell population in tendon homeostasis and injury. She was appointed as a lecturer in basic sciences in the department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences in July 2020
Chavaunne's research is focussed on investigating the roles of tendon cell populations in tendon homeostasis, ageing, repair and regeneration, with a particular interest in the resident progenitor cell population. She uses a combination of large and small animal models to understand how tendon cell populations respond to mechanical loading, ageing and injury.
See Google Scholar for an up-to-date list of publications:
Choi H, Simpson D, Wang D, Prescott M, Pitsillides AA, Dudhia J, Clegg PD, Ping P, Thorpe CT.
Elife. 2020 May 12;9:e55262. doi: 10.7554/eLife.55262
Zamboulis DE, Thorpe CT, Ashraf-Kharaz, Y Birch HL, Screen HRC, Clegg PD.
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Elife 2020 Oc 16: 9:e58075 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.58075
Spiesz EM, Thorpe CT, Thurner PJ, Screen HR. Structure and collagen crimp patterns of functionally distinct equine tendons, revealed by quantitative polarised light microscopy (qPLM). Acta Biomater 2018 70:281-92
Godinho MS, Thorpe CT, Greenwald SE, Screen HR. Elastin is Localised to the Interfascicular Matrix of Energy Storing Tendons and Becomes Increasingly Disorganised With Ageing. Sci Rep. 2017;7:9713
Shearer T, Thorpe CT, Screen HR. The relative compliance of energy-storing tendons may be due to the helical fibril arrangement of their fascicles. J R Soc Interface 14(133). pii: 20170261
Thorpe CT, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR (2017) Fascicles and the interfascicular matrix show adaptation for fatigue resistance in energy storing tendons. Acta Biomater 42:308-15
Thorpe CT, Karunaseelan KJ, Ng Chieng Hin J, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR (2016). Distribution of proteins within different compartments of tendon varies according to tendon type. J Anat. 229:450-8
Thorpe CT, Peffers MJ, Simpson D, Halliwell E, Screen HR, Clegg PD (2016). Anatomical heterogeneity of tendon: Fascicular and interfascicular tendon compartments have distinct proteomic composition. Sci Rep. 6;20455
Thorpe CT McDermott B, Goodship AE, Clegg PD, Birch HL (2016). Ageing does not result in a decline in cell synthetic activity in an injury prone tendon. Scand J Med Sci Sports 26:684-93
Thorpe CT, Godinho MS, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR (2015). The interfascicular matrix enables fascicle sliding and recovery in tendon, and behaves more elastically in energy storing tendons. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 52:82-94
Spiesz EM, Thorpe CT, Chaudhry S, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR (2015). Tendon extracellular matrix damage, degradation and inflammation in response to in vitro overload exercise. J Orthop Res. 33(6):889-97.
Thorpe CT, Chaudhry S, Lei II, Varone A, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR (2015). Tendon overload results in alterations in cell shape and increased markers of inflammation and matrix degradation. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 25:381-91
Thorpe C, Peffers M, Simpson D, Halliwell E, Screen H, Clegg P (2014). Characterisation of the proteome of the tendon interfascicular matrix. Br J Sports Med. 48:A68.
Peffers MJ*, Thorpe CT*, Collins JA, Eong R, Wei TK, Screen HR, Clegg PD (2014). Proteomic Analysis Reveals Age-related Changes in Tendon Matrix Composition, with Age- and Injury-specific Matrix Fragmentation. J Biol Chem. 289(37):25867-78. *Joint first authorship
Thorpe CT, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR (2014). Effect of fatigue loading on structure and functional behaviour of fascicles from energy-storing tendons. Acta Biomater. 10(7):3217-24
Thorpe CT, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR (2014). Fascicles from energy-storing tendons show an age-specific response to cyclic fatigue loading. J R Soc Interface. 11(92):20131058.
Thorpe CT, Klemt C, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR (2013). Helical sub-structures in energy-storing tendons provide a possible mechanism for efficient energy storage and return. Acta Biomater. 9(8),7948-56.
Thorpe CT, Udeze CP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HRC (2013). Capacity for sliding between tendon fascicles decreases with ageing in injury prone equine tendons: a possible mechanism for age-related tendinopathy? Eur Cell Mater. 25:48-60
Thorpe CT, Udeze CP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HRC (2012). Specialisation of tendon mechanical properties results from inter-fascicular differences. J R Soc Interface 9(76):3108-17.
Thorpe CT, Stark RJ, Goodship AE, Birch HL (2010). Mechanical properties of the equine superficial digital flexor tendon relate to specific collagen cross-link levels. Equine Vet J. Supp. 42(38):538-43.
Thorpe CT, Streeter I, Pinchbeck GL, Goodship AE, Clegg PD, Birch HL (2010). Aspartic acid racemization and collagen degradation markers reveal an accumulation of damage in tendon collagen that is enhanced with aging. J Biol Chem. 285(21):15674-81.
Thorpe CT, Marlin DJ, Franklin SH, Colborne GR (2009). Transverse and dorso-ventral changes in thoracic dimension during equine locomotion. Vet J. 179:370-7.
Chavaunne teaches on the 3rd year Biosciences Advanced Skeletal Pathobiology module and contributes to the locomotor strand teaching for GAB and BVM2 students
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Comparative endothelial cell function
Endothelial cells (ECs) line the inner surface of blood vessels throughout the body and are involved in controlling inflammation, blood clotting, blood pressure and the formation of new blood vessels. Little is known about EC function in horses, despite the importance of EC in many equine diseases, and the interest in the horse as a large animal model of human diseases. This work is focused on learning more about equine endothelial cells and the differences between human and equine endothelial cell function.