Dr Derek Warren

Reader

Department: Comparative Biomedical Sciences - Main

Campus: Camden

I am a Reader of Basic Science. My research interests include understanding how aortic smooth muscle cells age and respond to external mechanical cues.

I studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for undergraduate degree at the University of Dundee before completing a PhD at the University of Glasgow. I contiued my post-doctorial training at the University of Cambridge and King's College London. I began my path to independce by winning a BHF Intermediate Fellowhip at King's College London. In 2016, I joined the School of Pharmacy at the University of East Anglia as a Lecture of Pharmacology. In 2021, I was promoted to Associate Professor. I have recently joined the Royal Veterinary College as a Reader of Basic Science. 

Markers of esteem: 

I am a member of the British Society of Cardiovasular Research committee (since 2024).

I am an Executive Editor of the Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility.

My research has focused on pushing the boundaries of scientific ideas into how aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMC) respond to changes in their mechanical environment. As we age, our elastic arteries stiffen and ASMCs respond to this change by further increasing arterial stiffness. The mechanisms driving the ASMC contribution to aortic wall stiffness remain unknown. Understanding how changes in extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness drive ASMC pathological processes is key to my research interests. My lab uses polyacrylamide hydrogels to examine ASMC function at physiological and pathological stiffness. Using these hydrogels, we have developed a VSMC contractile assay that can be performed at physiological stiffness or pathological stiffness. Importantly, our approach has identified several key pathways that are activated specifically on hydrogels of pathological stiffness, one of these was recently published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

More recently, my research has moved towards understanding how the aortic smooth muscle cell and aorta age. To characterise this, we are employing a multiomic approach to define the molecular mechanisms driving these ageing processes.

  1. Extracellular vesicles stimulate smooth muscle cell migration by presenting collagen VI. Kapustin AN, Tsakali SS, Whitehead M, Chennell G, Wu MY, Molenaar C, Kutikhin A, Chen Y, Ahmad S, Bogdanov L, Sinitsky M, Rubina K, Clayton A, Verweij FJ, Pegtel DM, Zingaro S, Lobov A, Zainullina B, Owen D, Parsons M, Cheney RE, Warren DT, Humphries MJ, Iskratsch T, Holt M, Shanahan CM.Elife. 2025 Sep 30;12:RP90375. doi: 10.7554/eLife.90375.
  2. Microvascular endothelial cells display organ-specific responses to extracellular matrix stiffness. Rana Haidari, Wesley J. Fowler, Stephen D. Robinson, Robert T. Johnson* and Derek T. Warren*. Curr Res Physiol. 2025 Jan 28:8:100140. doi: 10.1016/j.crphys.2025.100140.
  3. Ferrocenyl β-Diketonate Compounds: Extended Ring Systems for Improved Anticancer Activity. Benjamin J. Hofmann, Enas T. Aljohani, Natalia Cicovacki, Ivan Lee, Derek T. Warren, Anastasia Sobolewski, Tameryn Stringer and Rianne M. Lord. Chembiochem. 2024 Oct 24:e202400759. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400759.
  4. A microtubule stability switch alters isolated vascular smooth muscle calcium flux in response to matrix rigidity. Robert Johnson*, Finn Wostear*, Reesha Solanki*, Oliver Steward, Christopher Morris, Stefan Bidula, and Derek T Warren. J Cell Sci. 2024 Sep 20:jcs.262310. doi: 10.1242/jcs.262310.
  5. Removal of the WD domain of ATG16L1 required for LC3-associated phagocytosis preserves skin homeostasis in mice. Shannon Conway, Matthew Jefferson, Derek T. Warren, Thomas Wileman & Christopher J. Morris. JID Innovations. 2024 Apr 28;4(4):100283. doi: 10.1016/j.xjidi.2024.100283
  6. Nesprin-2 is a novel scaffold protein for telethonin and FHL-2 in the cardiomyocyte sarcomere. Chen Li*, Derek T. Warren*, Can Zhou, Shanelle De Silva, Darren G.S. Wilson, Mitla Garcia-Maya, Mathew A. Wheeler, Peter Meinke, Greta Sawyer, Elisabeth Ehler, Manfred Wehnert, Li Rao, Qiuping Zhang, Catherine M. Shanahan. J Biol Chem. 2024 May;300(5):107254. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107254. Epub 2024 Apr 2.
  7. Piezo1-mediated regulation of smooth muscle cell volume in response to enhanced extracellular matrix rigidity. Robert T Johnson*, Finn Wostear*, Reesha Solanki*, Sultan Ahmed, James Taylor, Jasmine Rees, Geraad Abel, James McColl, Helle Jørgensen, Chris J. Morris, Stefan Bidula and Derek T. Warren. Br J Pharmacol. 2023 Dec 3. doi: 10.1111/bph.16294.
  8. HGF/c-Met/β1-integrin signalling axis induces tunneling nanotubes in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells. Awanis G, Banerjee S, Johnson R, Raveenthiraraj S, Elmeligy A, Warren D, Gavrilovic J, Sobolewski A. Life Sci Alliance. 2023 Aug 7;6(10):e202301953. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202301953.
  9. A highly photostable and versatile two-photon fluorescent probe for the detection of a wide range of intracellular NO concentrations in macrophages and endothelial cells. Carla Arnau del Valle, Lewis Williams, Paul Thomas, Robert Johnson, Sathuwarman Raveenthiraraj, Derek Warren, Anastasia Sobolewski, M. Paz Muñoz, Francisco Galindod and María J. Marín. J. Photochemistry and Photobiology, B: Biology. 2022 Sep;234:112512. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2022.112512. 
  10. Sultan Ahmed*, Robert Johnson*, Reesha Solanki, Teclino Afewerki, Finn Wostear, and Derek Warren. Using polyacrylamide hydrogels to model physiological aortic stiffness reveals that microtubules are critical regulators of isolated smooth muscle cell morphology and contractility. Front. Pharmacol. 13:836710. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.836710. 
  11. Johnson RT, Solanki R, Warren DT. Mechanical programming of arterial smooth muscle cells in health and ageing. Biophys Rev. 2021 Aug 30;13(5):757-768. doi: 10.1007/s12551-021-00833-6. eCollection 2021 Oct

I currently teach Adrenal and Thyriod Endocrinology, and Inflammation.

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