Advances in Immunology and Microbiology Seminar Series
About the event
Featuring research in the areas of:
Epidemiology | Infectious Disease | Disease Ecology | Drug Discovery | Virology |
Global Health | Vector-Borne Disease | Pathology
The Advances in Immunology & Microbiology seminar series is a weekly forum that brings together scientists from diverse fields and disciplines across the College of Veterinary Medicine to discuss research advances in the broad areas of immunology, microbiology, infectious diseases, and global health. Seminars feature student speakers from the Immunology & Infectious Disease (IID) doctoral program, IID-affiliated postdoctoral researchers and faculty, intramural speakers from across the university, and extramural speakers.
PRESENTER: Jalene Velazquez, PhD candidate; Mentor, Dr. Bonnie Gunn
TITLE: Defining the protective or pathologic role of antibodies in Post-Ebola Syndrome
ABSTRACT: Survivors of Ebola virus disease (EVD) report a wide range of symptoms following recovery from acute viral infection, collectively termed Post-Ebola Syndrome (PES), but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. To investigate the potential role antibodies have in PES, we used a systems serology approach to profile sera from EVD survivors from the 2014-2016 outbreak in Sierra Leone. We measured EBOV- and autoantigen-specific antibody levels, as well as EBOV GP-specific antibody Fc-mediated effector function and differential expression in innate immune cells. Compared to symptomatic survivors, survivors who did not report PES had higher levels of both EBOV- and autoantigen-specific IgG1, as well as elevated GP-specific antibody-dependent monocyte-mediated phagocytosis, complement deposition, and natural killer (NK) cell activation. Asymptomatic survivor antibodies induced higher expression of genes involved in innate immunity in monocytes, while symptomatic survivor antibodies did so in NK cells. Together, these data suggest that the development of qualitatively different antibodies may shape susceptibility to/protection from the development of PES.