Staff Profile

Qualifications

BSc, Biochemistry, Newcastle University, 2000-2004.
PhD (MRC and FARNE), Musculoskeletal Research Group, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, 2004-2008.

Current Position

2017- . Dunhill Medical Trust Research Associate, Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University.

Previous Positions

2011-2016. Arthritis Research UK Research Associate, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University.
2008-2011. Action Medical Research Associate, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University.

Memberships

Member of the Biochemical Society, the British Society for Matrix Biology (BSMB) and Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI).

Research Interests

Epigenetic regulation in cartilage, skeleton development and osteoarthritis.

Current Work

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cartilage, chondrocyte development and osteoarthritis.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in osteoarthritis and cartilage development - in vivo, in vitro and in silico.

DNA methylation in mesenchymal stem cells, chondrogenesis and cartilage.

HDACs and histone modifications in chondrocyte development, cartilage, joints and osteoarthritis.

Esteem Indicators

Reviewer for Arthritis Research UK, Reumafonds, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Reviewer for Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (ARD), Arthritis & Rheumatology (A&R), Osteoarthritis and Cartilage (OAC), Connective Tissue Research, The Journal of Rheumatology, Epigenomics, Scientific Reports, Theranostics.

Funding

Co-PI (David Young PI):

Laser-micro-dissection followed by RNA-seq to identify novel microRNA targets during long bone growth; Newcastle University;

Delivery of microRNAs a therapeutic option in osteoarthritis; JGW Patterson Foundation; £62,000; 01/08/17-31/07/18.

The role of long non-coding RNAs in regulating chondrogenesis and osteoarthritis: A transgenic approach; JGW Patterson Foundation; £74,500; 01/09/15-31/12/17.

Defining the epigenome of joint cells; JGW Patterson Foundation; £16,000; 01/04/13-31/12/14.

The role of histone deacetylase 3 in arthritis; JGW Patterson Foundation; £58,000; 01/11/13-20/06/16.

Supervision

PhD, mRes and BSc laboratory projects. 

• Articles

  • Niu L, Swingler TE, Suelzu C, Ersek A, Orriss IR, Barter MJ, Hayman DJ, Young DA, Horwood N, Clark IM. The microRNA-455 null mouse shows dysregulated bone turnover. JBMR Plus 2025, 9(3).
  • Hayman DJ, Johnson de Sousa Brito FM, Lin H, Prior A, Charlesworth G, Hao Y, Pearson RD, Soul J, Clark IM, Pirog KA, Barter MJ, van't Hof RJ, Young DA. microRNA-324 mediates bone homeostasis and the regulation of osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation and activity. Bone 2025, 190, 117273.
  • McDonnell E, Orr SE, Barter MJ, Rux D, Brumwell A, Wrobel N, Murphy L, Overman LM, Sorial AK, Young DA, Soul J, Rice SJ. The methylomic landscape of human articular cartilage development contains epigenetic signatures of osteoarthritis risk. American Journal of Human Genetics 2024, 111(12), 2756-2772.
  • Patel K, Barter M, Soul J, Clark P, Proctor C, Clark I, Young D, Shanley DP. Systems analysis of miR-199a/b-5p and multiple miR-199a/b-5p targets during chondrogenesis. eLife 2024, 12, RP89701.
  • Barter MJ, Turner DA, Rice SJ, Hines M, Lin H, Falconer AMD, McDonnell E, Soul J, Arques MDC, Europe-Finner GN, Rowan AD, Young DA, Wilkinson DJ. SERPINA3 is a marker of cartilage differentiation and is essential for the expression of extracellular matrix genes during early chondrogenesis. Matrix Biology 2024, 133, 33-42.
  • Gilbert SJ, Soul J, Hao Y, Lin H, Piróg KA, Coxhead J, Patel K, Barter MJ, Young DA, Blain EJ. Comparative transcriptomic analysis of articular cartilage of post-traumatic osteoarthritis mouse models. Disease Models and Mechanisms 2024, 17(10), dmm050583.
  • Gomez R, Barter MJ, Alonso-Perez A, Skelton AJ, Proctor C, Herrero-Beaumont G, Young DA. DNA methylation analysis identifies key transcription factors involved in mesenchymal stem cell osteogenic differentiation. Biological Research 2023, 56(1), 9.
  • Johnson K, Leary PJ, Govaere O, Barter MJ, Charlton SH, Cockell SJ, Tiniakos D, Zatorska M, Bedossa P, Brosnan MJ, Cobbold JF, Ekstedt M, Aithal GP, Clement K, Schattenberg JM, Boursier J, Ratziu V, Bugianesi E, Anstee QM, Daly AK, LITMUS Consortium Investigators. Increased serum miR-193a-5p during non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression: Diagnostic and mechanistic relevance. JHEP Reports 2022, 4(2), 100409.
  • Barter MJ, Butcher A, Wang H, Tsompani D, Galler M, Rumsby EL, Culley KL, Clark IM, Young DA. HDAC6 regulates NF-κB signalling to control chondrocyte IL-1-induced MMP and inflammatory gene expression. Scientific Reports 2022, 12(1), 6640.
  • Stadnik PS, Gilbert SJ, Tarn J, Charlton S, Skelton AJ, Barter MJ, Duance VC, Young DA, Blain EJ. Regulation of microRNA-221, -222, -21 and -27 in articular cartilage subjected to abnormal compressive forces. Journal of Physiology 2021, 599(1), 143-155.
  • Soul J, Barter MJ, Little CB, Young DA. OATargets: A knowledge base of genes associated with osteoarthritis joint damage in animals. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2021, 80(3), 376-383.
  • Hayman DJ, Modebadze T, Charlton S, Cheung K, Soul J, Lin H, Hao Y, Miles CG, Tsompani D, Jackson RM, Briggs MD, Piróg KA, Clark IM, Barter MJ, Clowry GJ, LeBeau FEN, Young DA. Increased hippocampal excitability in miR-324-null mice. Scientific Reports 2021, 11(1), 10452.
  • Barter MJ, Cheung K, Falk J, Panagiotopoulos AC, Cosimini C, OBrien S, TejaPutri K, Neill G, Deehan DJ, Young DA. Dynamic chromatin accessibility landscape changes following interleukin-1 stimulation. Epigenetics 2021, 16(1), 106-119.
  • Le L, Niu L, Barter MJ, Young DA, Dalmay T, Clark IM, Swingler TE. The role of microRNA-3085 in chondrocyte function. Scientific Reports 2020, 10(1), 21923.
  • Woods S, Charlton S, Cheung K, Hao Y, Soul J, Reynard LN, Crowe N, Swingler TE, Skelton AJ, Piróg KA, Miles CG, Tsompani D, Jackson RM, Dalmay T, Clark IM, Barter MJ, Young DA. microRNA-seq of cartilage reveals an over-abundance of miR-140-3p which contains functional isomiRs. RNA 2020, 26, 1575-1588.
  • Coelho-Lima J, Mohammed A, Cormack S, Jones S, Ali A, Panahi P, Barter M, Bagnall A, Ali S, Young D, Spyridopoulos I. Kinetics Analysis of Circulating MicroRNAs Unveils Markers of Failed Myocardial Reperfusion. Clinical Chemistry 2020, 66(1), 247-256.
  • Cheung K, Barter MJ, Falk J, Proctor CJ, Reynard LN, Young DA. Histone ChIP-Seq identifies differential enhancer usage during chondrogenesis as critical for defining cell-type specificity. FASEB Journal 2020, 34(4), 5317-5531.
  • Barter MJ, Bui C, Cheung K, Falk J, Gomez R, Skelton AJ, Elliott HR, Reynard LN, Young DA. DNA hypomethylation during MSC chondrogenesis occurs predominantly at enhancer regions. Scientific Reports 2020, 10(10), 1169.
  • Reynard LN, Barter MJ. Osteoarthritis year in review 2019: genetics, genomics and epigenetics. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2019, 28(3), 275-284.
  • Woods S, Barter MJ, Elliott HR, McGillivray CM, Birch MA, Clark IM, Young DA. miR-324-5p is up regulated in end-stage osteoarthritis and regulates Indian Hedgehog signalling by differing mechanisms in human and mouse. Matrix Biology 2019, 77, 87-100.
  • Ajekigbe B, Cheung K, Xu Y, Skelton AJ, Panagiotopoulos A, Soul J, Hardingham TE, Deehan DJ, Barter MJ, Young DA. Identification of long non-coding RNAs expressed in knee and hip osteoarthritic cartilage. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2019, 27(4), 694-702.
  • Barter MJ, Gomez R, Hyatt S, Cheung K, Skelton AJ, Xu Y, Clark IM, Young DA. The long non-coding RNA ROCR contributes to SOX9 expression and chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. Development 2017, 144, 4510-4521.
  • Le LTT, Swingler TE, Crowe N, Vincent TL, Barter MJ, Donell ST, Delany AM, Dalmay T, Young DA, Clark IM. The microRNA-29 family in cartilage homeostasis and osteoarthritis. Journal of Molecular Medicine 2016, 94(5), 583-596.
  • Snelling SJB, Davidson RK, Swingler TE, Le LTT, Barter MJ, Culley KL, Price A, Carr AJ, Clark IM. Dickkopf-3 is upregulated in osteoarthritis and has a chondroprotective role. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2016, 24(5), 883-891.
  • Crowe N, Swingler TE, Le LTT, Barter MJ, Wheeler G, Pais H, Donell ST, Young DA, Dalmay T, Clark IM. Detecting new microRNAs in human osteoarthritic chondrocytes identifies miR-3085 as a human, chondrocyte-selective, microRNA. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2016, 24(3), 534-543.
  • Barter MJ, Tselepi M, Gomez R, Woods S, Hui W, Smith GR, Shanley DP, Clark IM, Young DA. Genome-wide microRNA and gene analysis of mesenchymal stem cell chondrogenesis identifies an essential role and multiple targets for miR-140-5p. Stem Cells 2015, 33(11), 3266-3280.
  • Radwan M, Wilkinson DJ, Hui W, Destrument AP, Charlton SH, Barter MJ, Gibson B, Coulombe J, Gray DA, Rowan AD, Young DA. Protection against murine osteoarthritis by inhibition of the 26S proteasome and lysine-48 linked ubiquitination. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2014.
  • Rushton MD, Reynard LN, Barter MJ, Refaie R, Rankin KS, Young DA, Loughlin J. Characterization of the cartilage DNA methylome in knee and hip osteoarthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatology 2014, 66(9), 2450-2460.
  • Barter MJ, Young DA. Epigenetic Mechanisms and Non-coding RNAs in Osteoarthritis. Current Rheumatology Reports 2013, 15(9), 353.
  • Culley KL, Hui W, Barter MJ, Davidson RK, Swingler TE, Destrument APM, Scott JL, Donell ST, Fenwick S, Rowan AD, Young DA, Clark IM. Class I Histone Deacetylase Inhibition Modulates Metalloproteinase Expression and Blocks Cytokine-Induced Cartilage Degradation. Arthritis & Rheumatism 2013, 65(7), 1822-1830.
  • Swingler TE, Wheeler G, Carmont V, Elliott HR, Barter MJ, Abu-Elmagd M, Donell ST, Boot-Handford RP, Hajihosseini MK, Münsterberg A, Dalmay T, Young DA, Clark IM. The expression and function of microRNAs in chondrogenesis and osteoarthritis. Arthritis and Rheumatism 2012, 64(6), 1909-1919.
  • Zeybel M, Hardy T, Wong YK, Mathers JC, Fox CR, Gackowska A, Oakley F, Burt AD, Wilson CL, Anstee QM, Barter MJ, Masson S, Elsharkawy AM, Mann DA, Mann J. Multigenerational epigenetic adaptation of the hepatic wound-healing response. Nature Medicine 2012, 18(9), 1369-U110.
  • Xu Y, Barter MJ, Swan DC, Rankin KS, Rowan AD, Santibanez-Koref M, Loughlin J, Young DA. Identification of the pathogenic pathways in osteoarthritic hip cartilage: commonality and discord between hip and knee OA. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2012, 20(9), 1029-1038.
  • Bui C, Barter MJ, Scott JL, Xu Y, Galler M, Reynard LN, Rowan AD, Young DA. cAMP response element-binding (CREB) recruitment following a specific CpG demethylation leads to the elevated expression of the matrix metalloproteinase 13 in human articular chondrocytes and osteoarthritis. FASEB Journal 2012, 26(7), 3000-3011.
  • Litherland GJ, Elias MS, Hui W, Macdonald CD, Catterall JB, Barter MJ, Farren MJ, Jefferson M, Rowan AD. Protein Kinase C Isoforms ζ and Ɩ Mediate Collagenase Expression and Cartilage Destruction via STAT3- and ERK-dependent c-fos Induction. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2010, 285(29), 22414-22425.
  • Hui W, Litherland GJ, Jefferson M, Barter MJ, Elias MS, Cawston TE, Rowan AD, Young DA. Lithium protects cartilage from cytokine-mediated degradation by reducing collagen-degrading MMP production via inhibition of the P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Rheumatology 2010, 49(11), 2043-2053.
  • Barter MJ, Hui W, Lakey RL, Catterall JB, Cawston TE, Young DA. Lipophilic statins prevent matrix metalloproteinase-mediated cartilage collagen breakdown by inhibiting protein geranylgeranylation. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2010, 69(12), 2189-2198.
  • Barter MJ, Pybus L, Litherland GJ, Rowan AD, Clark IM, Edwards DR, Cawston TE, Young DA. HDAC-mediated control of ERK- and PI3K-dependent TGF-beta-induced extracellular matrix-regulating genes. Matrix Biology 2010, 29(7), 602-612.
  • Zhang Q, Hui W, Litherland GJ, Barter MJ, Davidson R, Darrah C, Donell ST, Clark IM, Cawston TE, Robinson JH, Rowan AD, Young DA. Differential Toll-like receptor-dependent collagenase expression in chondrocytes. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2008, 67(11), 1633-41.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Tsompani D, Barter MJ, Young DA. The role of histone deacetylase 3 in chondrogenesis and osteoarthritis. In: 2016 OARSI World Congress on Osteoarthritis: Promoting Clinical and Basic Research in Osteoarthritis. 2016, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier.
  • Swingler TE, Le L, Pais H, Barter MJ, Young DA, Dalmay T, Clark IM. Methods for the identification of microRNA-455 targets. In: World Congress on Osteoarthritis: Promoting Clinical and Basic Research in Osteoarthritis. 2014, Paris, France: Elsevier.
  • Barter MJ, Hyatt S, Xu Y, Young DA. Long non coding rnas in osteroarthritis and chondrogenesis. In: World Congress on Osteoarthritis: Promoting Clinical and Basic Research in Osteoarthritis. 2014, Paris, France: Elsevier.
  • Barter MJ, Bui C, Young DY. Investigation of the role of DNA methylation during chondrocyte differentiation. In: British Society for Matrix Biology Spring 2013 Meeting. 2013, Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Swingler TE, Crowe N, Sorefan K, Le L, Wheeler G, Carmont V, Elliott HR, Barter MJ, Abu-Elmagd M, Donell ST, Boot-Handford RP, Hajihosseini MK, Munsterberg A, Dalmay T, Young DA, Clark IM. Identification and characterisation of micrornas involved in chondrocyte differentiation and osteoarthritis. In: World Congress on Osteoarthritis. 2012, Barcelona, Spain: Elsevier Ltd.
  • Young DA, Barter MJ, Bui C. Epigenetics: marks for future OA research?. In: World Congress on Osteoarthritis. 2012, Barcelona, Spain: Elsevier Ltd.
  • Woods S, Barter M, Elliott H, Syddall C, Swingler T, Clark I, Birch M, Young D. miR324-5p in osteoarthritis and indian hedgehog signalling. In: International Journal of Experimental Pathology: Spring Meeting of the British Society for Matrix Biology (BSMB). 2011, Bristol, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

• Reviews

  • Young DA, Barter MJ, Soul J. Osteoarthritis year in review: genetics, genomics, epigenetics. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2022, 30(2), 216-225.
  • Swingler TE, Niu L, Smith P, Paddy P, Le L, Barter MJ, Young DA, Clark IM. The function of microRNAs in cartilage and osteoarthritis. Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2019, 37(5), 40-47.
  • Young DA, Barter MJ, Wilkinson DJ. Recent advances in understanding the regulation of metalloproteinases. F1000Research 2019, 8, 195.
  • Young DA, Bui C, Barter MJ. Understanding CpG methylation in the context of osteoarthritis. Epigenomics 2012, 4(6), 593-595.
  • Barter MJ, Bui C, Young DA. Epigenetic mechanisms in cartilage and osteoarthritis: DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNAs. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2012, 20(5), 339-349.