Trial lecture: "T cell immunity in bony fish: current knowledge and implications for vaccine design in gadoids"
Time and place: 9 Feb. 2024, 10:15 AM, Nucleus, Bikuben, Kristine Bonnevies hus
Main research findings:
The Atlantic cod possesses a unique immune system, with an evolutionary loss of key genes crucial for antibody responses to conventional vaccines and combating infectious diseases in other vertebrates. This work found an alternative vaccination strategy rendering the Atlantic cod capable of producing a strong and durable antibody response. Specific antibodies induced by vaccination with dead bacteria were shown to effectively protect Atlantic cod from otherwise lethal bacterial infection. The researchers transferred antibodies from vaccinated cod to unvaccinated ones and showed that this provided protection to unvaccinated fish against bacterial infection. This insight is crucial for vaccine development, revealing that the Atlantic cod can effectively deploy antibodies for defense against bacteria, even in the absence of certain immune system components found in other vertebrates. Additionally, an advancement in this research was the development of a new gene-editing platform, utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 tool, to selectively deactivate specific genes in the Atlantic cod. This is a pivotal development for future research into the cod's immune system, as it enables researchers to investigate the consequences of removing specific immune cells such as T cells.
Adjudication committee
Professor Giuseppe Scapigliati, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
Associate Professor Hege Lund, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
Professor Leif Asbjørn Vøllestad, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Chair of defense
Professor Marianne Fyhn, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Supervisors
Professor Finn-Eirik Johansen, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Professor Shuo-Wang Qiao, Department of Immunology, University of Oslo