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A standardised approach to quantifying activity in domestic dogs (2024)
Journal Article
Karimjee, K., Harron, R., Piercy, R., & Daley, M. (2024). A standardised approach to quantifying activity in domestic dogs. Royal Society Open Science, 11(7), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240119

Objective assessment of activity via accelerometry can provide valuable insights into dog health and welfare. Common activity metrics involve using acceleration cut-points to group data into intensity categories and reporting the time spent in each c... Read More about A standardised approach to quantifying activity in domestic dogs.

Characterisation of phenotypic patterns in equine exercise-associated myopathies (2024)
Journal Article
Lindsay-McGee, V., Massey, C., Li, Y., Clark, E., Psifidi, A., & Piercy, R. (2024). Characterisation of phenotypic patterns in equine exercise-associated myopathies. Equine Veterinary Journal, https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14128

Background Equine exercise-associated myopathies are prevalent, clinically heterogeneous, generally idiopathic disorders characterised by episodes of myofibre damage that occur in association with exercise. Episodes are intermittent and vary within a... Read More about Characterisation of phenotypic patterns in equine exercise-associated myopathies.

Genetic characterisation of the Connemara pony and the Warmblood horse using a within-breed clustering approach (2023)
Journal Article
Lindsay-McGee, V., Sanchez-Molano, E., Banos, G., Clark, E., Piercy, R., & Psifidi, A. (2023). Genetic characterisation of the Connemara pony and the Warmblood horse using a within-breed clustering approach. Genetics Selection Evolution, 55(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12711-023-00827-w

BackgroundThe Connemara pony (CP) is an Irish breed that has experienced varied selection by breeders over the last fifty years, with objectives ranging from the traditional hardy pony to an agile athlete. We compared these ponies with well-studied W... Read More about Genetic characterisation of the Connemara pony and the Warmblood horse using a within-breed clustering approach.

Brain magnetic resonance imaging in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy reveals regional reductions in cerebral gray matter (2023)
Journal Article
Crawford, A. H., Hornby, N. L., De La Fuente, A. G., & Piercy, R. J. (2023). Brain magnetic resonance imaging in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy reveals regional reductions in cerebral gray matter. BMC Neuroscience, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12868-023-00788-2

Background Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a X-linked disease characterized by severe and progressive muscle weakness, alongside cognitive impairment and a range of neurobehavioral disorders secondary to brain dystrophin deficiency. Duchenne muscular... Read More about Brain magnetic resonance imaging in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy reveals regional reductions in cerebral gray matter.

Serum inflammatory cytokines as disease biomarkers in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (2022)
Journal Article
Piercy, R., Riddell, D., Hildyard, J., Harron, R., & Wells, D. (2022). Serum inflammatory cytokines as disease biomarkers in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Neuromuscular Disorders, https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.049394

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal muscle-wasting disease, caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene, characterised by cycles of muscle degeneration, inflammation and regeneration. The DE50-MD dog is a canine model of DMD that closely mimi... Read More about Serum inflammatory cytokines as disease biomarkers in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Locating a novel autosomal recessive genetic variant in the cattle glucokinase gene using only WGS data from three cases and six carriers (2022)
Journal Article
Pollott, G. E., Piercy, R. J., Massey, C., Salavati, M., Cheng, Z., & Wathes, D. C. (2022). Locating a novel autosomal recessive genetic variant in the cattle glucokinase gene using only WGS data from three cases and six carriers. Frontiers in Genetics, 13, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2022.755693

New Mendelian genetic conditions, which adversely affect livestock, arise all the time. To manage them effectively, some methods need to be devised that are quick and accurate. Until recently, finding the causal genomic site of a new autosomal recess... Read More about Locating a novel autosomal recessive genetic variant in the cattle glucokinase gene using only WGS data from three cases and six carriers.

Cultured dissociated primary dorsal root ganglion neurons from adult horses enable study of axonal transport (2022)
Journal Article
Adalbert, R., Cahalan, S., Hopkins, E., Almuhanna, A., Loreto, A., Por, E., Perkins, J., Coleman, M., & Piercy, R. (2022). Cultured dissociated primary dorsal root ganglion neurons from adult horses enable study of axonal transport. Journal of Anatomy, https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13719

Neurological disorders are prevalent in horses, but their study is challenging due to anatomic constraints and the large body size; very few host-specific in vitro models have been established to study these types of diseases, particularly from adult... Read More about Cultured dissociated primary dorsal root ganglion neurons from adult horses enable study of axonal transport.

Longitudinal assessment of blood-borne musculoskeletal disease biomarkers in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (2022)
Journal Article
Riddell, D. O., Hildyard, J. C. W., Harron, R. C. M., Wells, D. J., & Piercy, R. J. (online). Longitudinal assessment of blood-borne musculoskeletal disease biomarkers in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Wellcome Open Research, https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17398.1

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal muscle wasting disease affecting approximately 1 in 6000 male births worldwide. Due to their phenotypic similarity to human patients, large animal models are invaluable tools for pre-clinical t... Read More about Longitudinal assessment of blood-borne musculoskeletal disease biomarkers in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Validation of DE50-MD dogs as a model for the cognitive and biochemical defects in the brain phenotype of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (2022)
Journal Article
Crawford, A., Hildyard, J., Rushing, S., Wells, D., Diez Leon, M., & Piercy, R. (in press). Validation of DE50-MD dogs as a model for the cognitive and biochemical defects in the brain phenotype of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. eLife, https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.049291

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a fatal musculoskeletal disorder, is associated with neurodevelopmental problems and cognitive impairment caused by dystrophin deficiency in the brain. Dog models of DMD represent key translational tools to study... Read More about Validation of DE50-MD dogs as a model for the cognitive and biochemical defects in the brain phenotype of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Hypoglycin A absorption in sheep without concurrent clinical or biochemical evidence of disease (2021)
Journal Article
Gonzalez-Medina, S., Bevin, W., Alzola-Domingo, R., Chang, Y., & Piercy, R. (2021). Hypoglycin A absorption in sheep without concurrent clinical or biochemical evidence of disease. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 35(2), 1170-1176. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16077

Background Hypoglycin A (HGA) intoxication after ingestion of Acer spp. tree material has never been confirmed in domesticated ruminants despite their similar grazing habitats. Objectives To investigate whether sheep have low HGA bioavailability caus... Read More about Hypoglycin A absorption in sheep without concurrent clinical or biochemical evidence of disease.

A highly prevalent SINE mutation in the myostatin (MSTN) gene promoter is associated with low circulating myostatin concentration in Thoroughbred racehorses (2021)
Journal Article
O'Hara, V., Cowan, A., Riddell, D., Massey, C., Martin, J., & Piercy, R. (2021). A highly prevalent SINE mutation in the myostatin (MSTN) gene promoter is associated with low circulating myostatin concentration in Thoroughbred racehorses. Scientific Reports, 11(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86783-1

Horse racing is a popular and financially important industry worldwide and researchers and horse owners are interested in genetic and training influences that maximise athletic performance. An association has been found between the presence of a shor... Read More about A highly prevalent SINE mutation in the myostatin (MSTN) gene promoter is associated with low circulating myostatin concentration in Thoroughbred racehorses.

Musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (2021)
Journal Article
Hornby, N., Drees, R., Harron, R., Chang, R., Wells, D., & Piercy, R. (2021). Musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Neuromuscular Disorders, 31(8), 736-751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nmd.2021.05.010

The DE50-MD canine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) has a dystrophin gene splice site mutation causing deletion of exon 50, an out-of-frame transcript and absence of dystrophin expression in striated muscles. We hypothesized that the muscul... Read More about Musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging in the DE50-MD dog model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Optimisation and validation of immunohistochemical axonal markers for morphological and functional characterisation of equine peripheral nerves (2021)
Journal Article
Almuhanna, A., Cahalan, S., Lane, A., Goodwin, D., Perkins, J., & Piercy, R. (2021). Optimisation and validation of immunohistochemical axonal markers for morphological and functional characterisation of equine peripheral nerves. Equine Veterinary Journal, 53(6), 1188-1198. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13403

Background: Horses are affected by various peripheral nerve disorders but defining their aetiology and pathophysiology is hampered by limited understanding of associated morphological and pathological changes and involvement of specific axonal types.... Read More about Optimisation and validation of immunohistochemical axonal markers for morphological and functional characterisation of equine peripheral nerves.

Single-transcript multiplex in situ hybridisation reveals unique patterns of dystrophin isoform expression in the developing mammalian embryo (2020)
Journal Article
Hildyard, J. C. W., Crawford, A. H., Rawson, F., Riddell, D. O., Harron, R. C. M., & Piercy, R. J. (2020). Single-transcript multiplex in situ hybridisation reveals unique patterns of dystrophin isoform expression in the developing mammalian embryo. Wellcome Open Research, 5, 76. https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15762.2

Background: The dystrophin gene has multiple isoforms: full-length dystrophin (dp427) is principally known for its expression in skeletal and cardiac muscle, but is also expressed in the brain, and several internal promoters give rise to shorter, N-t... Read More about Single-transcript multiplex in situ hybridisation reveals unique patterns of dystrophin isoform expression in the developing mammalian embryo.

Detection of hypoglycin A and MCPA‐carnitine in equine serum and muscle tissue: optimisation and validation of a LC‐MS based method without derivatisation (2020)
Journal Article
González Medina, S., Hyde, C., Lovera, I., & Piercy, R. J. (2020). Detection of hypoglycin A and MCPA‐carnitine in equine serum and muscle tissue: optimisation and validation of a LC‐MS based method without derivatisation. Equine Veterinary Journal, https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13303

Measurement of hypoglycin A (HGA) and its toxic metabolite, methylenecyclopropylacetic acid (MCPA), in equine serum confirms a diagnosis of atypical myopathy (AM), a pasture‐associated toxic rhabdomyolysis with high mortality linked to the ingestion... Read More about Detection of hypoglycin A and MCPA‐carnitine in equine serum and muscle tissue: optimisation and validation of a LC‐MS based method without derivatisation.

Species-specific consequences of an E40K missense mutation in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) (2019)
Journal Article
Draper, A. C. E., Wilson, Z., Maile, C. A., Faccenda, D., Campanella, M., & Piercy, R. J. (2019). Species-specific consequences of an E40K missense mutation in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). FASEB Journal, https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201901455R

A glutamic acid to lysine (E40K) residue substitution in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) is associated with canine degenerative myelopathy: the only naturally occurring large animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The E40 residue is highl... Read More about Species-specific consequences of an E40K missense mutation in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1).

Assessing pathological changes within the nucleus ambiguus of horses with Recurrent Laryngeal Neuropathy: an extreme, length-dependent axonopathy (2019)
Journal Article
Draper, A. C. E., Cahalan, S. D., Goodwin, D., Perkins, J. D. M., & Piercy, R. J. (2019). Assessing pathological changes within the nucleus ambiguus of horses with Recurrent Laryngeal Neuropathy: an extreme, length-dependent axonopathy. Muscle & Nerve, https://doi.org/10.1002/mus.26699

Equine recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) is a naturally occurring model of length‐dependent axonopathy characterised by asymmetrical degeneration of recurrent laryngeal nerve axons (RLn). Distal RLn degeneration is marked, however it is unclear wh... Read More about Assessing pathological changes within the nucleus ambiguus of horses with Recurrent Laryngeal Neuropathy: an extreme, length-dependent axonopathy.

Ex vivo investigation of the effect of the transverse arytenoid ligament on abduction of the arytenoid cartilage when performing equine laryngoplasty (2019)
Journal Article
Chesworth, M., Brandenberger, O., Cheetham, J., Windley, Z., Schumacher, J., Cochran, K., Piercy, R. J., & Perkins, J. D. M. (2019). Ex vivo investigation of the effect of the transverse arytenoid ligament on abduction of the arytenoid cartilage when performing equine laryngoplasty. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 67(5), 264-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/00480169.2019.1635538

Energy turnover in mammalian skeletal muscle in contractions mimicking locomotion: effects of stimulus pattern on work, impulse and energetic cost and efficiency (2019)
Journal Article
Curtin, N. A., Woledge, R. C., West, T. G., Goodwin, D., Piercy, R. J., & Wilson, A. M. (2019). Energy turnover in mammalian skeletal muscle in contractions mimicking locomotion: effects of stimulus pattern on work, impulse and energetic cost and efficiency. Journal of Experimental Biology, 222, https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.203877

Active muscle performs various mechanical functions during locomotion: work output during shortening, work absorption when resisting (but not preventing) lengthening, and impulse (force–time integral) whenever there is active force. The energetic cos... Read More about Energy turnover in mammalian skeletal muscle in contractions mimicking locomotion: effects of stimulus pattern on work, impulse and energetic cost and efficiency.