The trial lecture is: "CD4+ T cell subsets in autoimmunity: when helpers become unhelpful".
Time and place: June 23, 2022 10:15 AM, Zoom and Nucleus, Bikuben, The Kristine Bonnevie building.
Main research findings
The major features of our adaptive immune system originated 500 million years ago and are common to all vertebrates. Until recently, it was assumed that all components of the adaptive immune system were such a beneficial evolutionary acquisition that they have been maintained in all species. DNA sequencing of the Atlantic cod genome and that of other cod family members revealed a loss of some genes essential for adaptive immunity in mammals. Why the loss of these genes in an ancestor of Atlantic cod has resulted in evolutionary success for cod and its cousins is a mystery.
To understand the cellular organisation and activity of the Atlantic cod immune system, we isolated individual immune cells and examined the activity of about 20, 000 genes on a single-cell level (tens of thousands of cells). This allowed us to describe the immune cell populations present in the cod. We found all major immune cells, except those dependent on the lost genes. We also describe the cellular responses to vaccination and challenge with Vibrio anguillarum, a commonly encountered cold-water pathogen, and find activation of immune defense mechanisms in immunised fish, which could explain why they are protected against vibriosis.
Adjudication committee
Project leader Dr. Jeremy Swann, Max Planck Institute
Professor Gyri Teien Haugland, University of Bergen
Associate Professor Sjannie Lefevre, University of Oslo
Chair of defence
Professor Marianne Fyhn, University of Oslo
Supervisors
Shuo-Wang Qiao, University of Oslo
Finn-Eirik Johansen, University of Oslo
Kjetill Jakobsen, University of Oslo
Monica Solbakken, University of Oslo