Dr Caroline Gorvin

• DPhil in Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, 2012.
• BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science with Industrial Experience, University of Manchester, 2008.

Caroline obtained her BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science with Industrial Experience in 2008 from the University of Manchester. She spent her year in industry in 2007 at AstraZeneca plc in the in vitro electrophysiology team. Caroline then moved to the University of Oxford for her PhD studies, where her research focussed on the cellular mechanisms by which mutations in a chloride-proton antiporter cause the renal disorder Dent’s disease. She also spent time on secondment at UMC St Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, during this period.

Caroline continued in Oxford undertaking postdoctoral research investigating the signalling and trafficking of the GPCR, calcium-sensing receptor, and its role in calcium homeostasis. She moved to the MSS in January 2018 to establish her research group. Caroline’s research group has active research programmes investigating:

1) Signalling of GPCRs involved in appetite regulation (funded by a Wellcome Trust & Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship),

2) The role of metabolic GPCRs in bone metabolism (funded by Novo Nordisk),

3) How genetic alterations in the calcium-sensing receptor, and components of its signalling pathway, contribute to human disorders of calcium homeostasis.

She has recently completed a research secondment at Weill Cornell Medicine and is a visiting researcher at Queen Mary University of London.

Caroline collaborates with both basic science researchers and clinicians to advance understanding of GPCR signalling in endocrine and metabolic disease. These encompass three main themes.

Signalling of GPCRs involved in appetite regulation

The Gorvin group investigates fundamental mechanisms by which metabolic GPCRs signal within cells. Studies include: understanding how accessory proteins interact with GPCRs to modify their signalling and internalisation; and investigating how receptor dimerisation and cross-talk influence signal dynamics.

GPCRs involved in bone metabolism

In collaboration with researchers at the University of Southern Denmark, Dr Gorvin’s research focusses on understanding how GPCRs contribute to bone metabolism. Current research areas include: the effect of the hormones GIP and GLP-1 on human bone cell activity and defining the roles of orphan GPCRs in osteoclast activity.  

Calcium-sensing receptor signalling & trafficking

Dr Gorvin has expertise in calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) signalling and the contribution of receptor mutations to disorders of calcium homeostasis. Her research has: defined new paradigms for CaSR signalling by spatiotemporal G-protein pathways; described new disease-biased CaSR signalling pathways; repurposed allosteric modulators for patients with hyper/hypocalcaemia; and contributed to informing clinical guidelines for genetic testing in hypercalcaemia.

This research combines microscopy techniques (including single molecule imaging) with signalling assays (e.g. BRET, HTRF, TR-FRET, AlphaScreen and reporter assays) in primary and immortalised cell-lines. The Gorvin group is happy to provide expertise and collaborate with any researchers that have an interest in membrane proteins, cell signalling or trafficking.

Current group members

• Aqfan Jamaluddin (Post-doc)
• Rachael Wyatt (Research Technician)
• Maria Price (PhD Metabolism and Systems Research)

• Member of the MRC IAA Management Group.
• Member of the Science Committee for the Society for Endocrinology.
• Editorial board membership for Journal of Endocrinology, Journal of Molecular Endocrinology, Journal of the Endocrine Society.
• Organise seminar series for the Department of Metabolism & Systems Science (MSS) and the Centre of Membrane Proteins & Receptors (COMPARE).