Professor

Robert Insall

FRSE
Born1965
London
CitizenshipU.K.
EducationBA (Hons) University of Cambridge, PhD Cambridge University, Post-doctoral training Johns Hopkins University
Scientific career
FieldsCell Biology, Systems Biology, Cancer Biology
InstitutionsUniversity College London, University of Glasgow
ThesisA candidate receptor for DIF in Dictyostelium. (1990)
Doctoral advisorRob Kay
Other academic advisorsPeter N. Devreotes

Robert Insall is a Professor of Computational Cell Biology at University College London and the University of Glasgow. His work focuses on how eukaryotic cells move, and how they choose the direction in which they move. He is known for demonstrating that cells can spread in the body[1][2] and find their way through mazes[3][4][5] by creating gradients of chemoattractants.

Career

Insall performed his PhD work at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, working with developmental biologist Rob Kay, and his post-doctoral training with Peter Devreotes at Johns Hopkins University. After holding positions at the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at University College London, the University of Birmingham and the University of Glasgow, he moved to University College London in 2023.[6] His laboratory is currently located in the Darwin Building in Bloomsbury. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2014.[7]

Key scientific contributions

With Laura Machesky, he identified an important signaling pathway that controls the behavior of the actin cytoskeleton.[8] Insall later proposed that chemotaxis, the process by which cells move towards sources of nutrients or other chemoattractants, is not driven by signaling from the cell membrane but instead by influencing the rate or direction of the extension of pseudopodia, protrusions that the cell uses to move.[9] He later introduced the idea that instead of responding to pre-formed chemoattractant gradients, cells generate these gradients themselves by degrading the chemoattractant.[10] He showed that the spread of cancer cells in melanoma is driven by this mechanism,[1][2] and that cells migrating through a maze can tell the difference between short arms of the maze and long arms because the chemoattractant in a short arm is degraded more rapidly, allowing them to avoid getting lost.[4][3][5]

Other activities

Insall is a frequent commentator on issues related to science policy,[11][12][13][14] reproducibility,[15] and science publishing.[16][17] He was chosen by secondary school students as the best communicator in the 2012 I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here! competition for cancer researchers.[18]

Family

Insall's father, Donald Insall, is a noted architect. His wife, Laura Machesky, FRSE, FMedSci is the Dunn Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge.[7] The two researchers frequently collaborate.

References

  1. 1 2 Muinonen-Martin, Andrew J.; Susanto, Olivia; Zhang, Qifeng; Smethurst, Elizabeth; Faller, William J.; Veltman, Douwe M.; Kalna, Gabriela; Lindsay, Colin; Bennett, Dorothy C.; Sansom, Owen J.; Herd, Robert (2014). "Melanoma cells break down LPA to establish local gradients that drive chemotactic dispersal". PLOS Biology. 12 (10): e1001966. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001966. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 4196730. PMID 25313567.
  2. 1 2 Reid, Rob (14 October 2014). "Scottish scientists discover new clues to stopping spread of skin cancer cells around the body". Daily Record. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 Tweedy, Luke; Thomason, Peter A.; Paschke, Peggy I.; Martin, Kirsty; Machesky, Laura M.; Zagnoni, Michele; Insall, Robert H. (28 August 2020). "Seeing around corners: Cells solve mazes and respond at a distance using attractant breakdown". Science. 369 (6507): eaay9792. doi:10.1126/science.aay9792. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 32855311. S2CID 221342551.
  4. 1 2 Klein, Alice. "Watch cells sniff their way around the maze from Hampton Court Palace". New Scientist. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  5. 1 2 Brandon Specktor - Senior Writer 27 August 2020 (27 August 2020). "Cells solved Henry VIII's infamous hedge maze by 'seeing around corners,' video shows". livescience.com. Retrieved 17 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Beatson Institute. "Prof Robert Insall FRSE - Cell Migration and Chemotaxis | Invasion and Metastasis | The Beatson Institute Research Groups | Research". www.beatson.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Couple have become fellows". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Machesky, L. M.; Insall, R. H. (1998). "Scar1 and the related Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein, WASP, regulate the actin cytoskeleton through the Arp2/3 complex". Current Biology. 8 (25): 1347–1356. doi:10.1016/s0960-9822(98)00015-3. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 9889097. S2CID 16661755.
  9. ↑ Insall, Robert H. (2010). "Understanding eukaryotic chemotaxis: a pseudopod-centred view". Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology. 11 (6): 453–458. doi:10.1038/nrm2905. ISSN 1471-0080. PMID 20445546. S2CID 31476082.
  10. ↑ Tweedy, Luke; Knecht, David A.; Mackay, Gillian M.; Insall, Robert H. (2016). "Self-Generated Chemoattractant Gradients: Attractant Depletion Extends the Range and Robustness of Chemotaxis". PLOS Biology. 14 (3): e1002404. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002404. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 4794234. PMID 26981861.
  11. ↑ Insall, Robert (2011). "Career postdocs increase scrap heap". Nature. 471 (7340): 578. Bibcode:2011Natur.471..578I. doi:10.1038/471578e. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 21455160.
  12. ↑ Insall, Robert (8 April 1999). "Cynicism and credulity". Current Biology. 9 (7): R231. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(99)80147-X. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 10209127. S2CID 43192942.
  13. ↑ Insall, Robert (1 April 2000). "Too much of a good thing?". Current Biology. 10 (7): R253. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(00)00409-7. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 10753757. S2CID 935794.
  14. ↑ Insall, Robert (1 November 1997). "The right stuff". Current Biology. 7 (11): R665. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(06)00345-9. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 9382817.
  15. ↑ Siebert, Sabina; Machesky, Laura M.; Insall, Robert H. (14 September 2015). "Overflow in science and its implications for trust". eLife. 4. doi:10.7554/eLife.10825. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 4563216. PMID 26365552.
  16. ↑ Insall, Robert (2003). "Impact factors: target the funding bodies". Nature. 423 (6940): 585. Bibcode:2003Natur.423..585I. doi:10.1038/423585b. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 12789312.
  17. ↑ Insall, Robert (4 March 2003). "Robert Insall". Current Biology. 13 (5): R167–R168. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00112-X. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 12620201. S2CID 5302620.
  18. ↑ "Beatson 'celeb' scientist is UK winner for kids". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
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