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.
INTRAMURAL TRAINEE DOUBLE-HEADER
Dr. Chris Akinsulie, DVM, MS; PhD Candidate, Department of Veterinary Microbiology & Pathology; (Advisor: Dr. Susan Noh )
TITLE: Identifying Immune Correlates of Protection Against Anaplasma Marginale
ABSTRACT: Anaplasma marginale is an intra-erythrocytic bacterium that causes bovine anaplasmosis, characterized by acute anemia and a notable reduction in cattle production worldwide. The current prevention methods are inadequate and primarily include acaricides and antibiotics. Thus, a vaccine is needed. A major limitation in progress toward vaccine develop is a lack of correlates of protective immunity. Because IgG antibodies likely play a major role in immune protection, we measured the IgG Fc-mediated effector responses induced by antibodies specific for a subset of high priority vaccine candidates. The Fab domain of IgG provides specificity to the antibody response while the Fc- domain binds the Fc-receptors (FcRs) present on most immune cells and thus triggers effector responses including monocyte and neutrophil phagocytosis, complement fixation, and γδ+ T cell activation. We have then identified a combination of vaccine candidates and Fc-mediated effector functions that correlate with protective immunity and those that may facilitate disease.
Danny Powell, PhD candidate, Department of Veterinary Microbiology & Pathology; (Advisor: Dr. Troy Bankhead)
TITLE: Evidence for the Coordinated Regulation of the Variable Surface Proteins of B. hermsii by Three Putative Stem Loop Structures
ABSTRACT: Relapsing Fever is a global tick-borne disease caused by various bacteria in the Borrelia genus. In the mountains of the western United States, Borrelia hermsii is the principal causative agent, persisting in small birds and rodents and transmitted to humans by feeding ticks. In order to survive in the disparate environments of the tick and the vertebrate host, B. hermsii coordinates the alternating production of the tick-phase Variable Tick Protein (Vtp) and the mammalian-phase Variable Major Protein (Vmp) at its surface. The expression of Vtp is pivotal for transmission from the tick, while both the expression and antigenic variation of Vmp are essential for persistence against the adaptive immune response of the vertebrate. Previous work indicates that production of Vtp may be directly controlled by production of Vmp, rather than by cell signaling further upstream. Here I present preliminary data indicating that three putative stem-loops upstream of the vmp expression locus are essential for coordinating Vmp-Vtp regulation.