CAREER: Exploring the Immunological Priming in Basal Metazoan (Anthozoan)

职业：探索基底后生动物（Anthozoan）的免疫启动

• 批准号: 1453519
• 负责人: Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
• 金额: $ 57.5万
• 依托单位: Florida International University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-01 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1453519&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Exploring; Immunological; Priming; Basal

Coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse and economically important ecosystems on the planet. However, they are at risk of demise from ongoing and impending environmental stressors and disease-causing agents. There is a need to understand the mechanisms of resistance to pathogenic stressors by corals if we are to influence the persistence of coral reefs under current challenges. Here a research program will elucidate the specificity, memory and molecular basis of the defense response of corals upon repetitive encounters with pathogens. Understanding how the immune system of these organisms responds to pathogens may offer insights into the resilience of these ecosystems, and potentially may inform remediation of them. One clear implication would be the development of immunization protocols to improve tolerance and survival of corals and their relatives. The proposed research will increase and potentially transform our understanding of the dynamic immunological response of these basal animals, which remains grossly understudied despite the ecological and economic importance of coral reefs. Furthermore, the project will build science capacity through the training and education of the next generation of American and international young scientists. The lead investigator will develop research and educational projects to support K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students within the integrated scope of the project. A strong emphasis will be placed on developing outreach programs for Hispanic high school students and other minority students from the Miami metropolitan area with the goal of generating interest in science education and facilitating growth in the recruitment and participation of these underrepresented groups in undergraduate fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. An important aspect of this educational project is the synergy between the research laboratory of an early-career scientist, a well-established Hispanic Serving Institution (Florida International University) and the local public school system in Miami-Dade County, all joined in the mission to stimulate interest in science careers through exposure to inspired teaching. Coral diseases are of great concern since they have emerged over recent decades as a significant threat to coral reef ecosystems. In order to understand and influence the persistence of coral reefs under current challenges, it is imperative to understand the mechanisms of immunological resistance to pathogens in corals and their relatives (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). The Principal Investigator will elucidate the role of immune priming in the response of anthozoans upon repetitive encounters to infectious agents. The approach uses the sea anemone model Exaiptasia pallida to determine whether the immune system of this organism exhibits specific memory in response to infectious agents, as indicated by accelerated defensive responses upon subsequent exposures to pathogens, a phenomenon that remains largely unknown in basal metazoans. This research also investigates the lasting effect of induced protective response upon multiple repetitive pathogenic encounters. Furthermore, transcriptomic profiles and histological approaches will be used to facilitate the discovery of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning the phenomenon of immune priming.

珊瑚礁是地球上最具生物多样性和经济重要性的生态系统之一。然而，它们面临因持续和迫在眉睫的环境应激源和致病因素而死亡的风险。如果我们要影响珊瑚礁在当前挑战下的持久性，就需要了解珊瑚抵抗致病应激源的机制。在这里，一项研究计划将阐明珊瑚在重复遇到病原体时的防御反应的特异性、记忆力和分子基础。了解这些生物体的免疫系统如何对病原体做出反应，可能会提供对这些生态系统的弹性的洞察，并可能为补救措施提供信息。一个明显的含义是制定免疫方案，以提高珊瑚及其近亲的耐受性和存活率。拟议的研究将增加并有可能改变我们对这些基础动物动态免疫反应的理解，尽管珊瑚礁具有重要的生态和经济意义，但对它们的研究仍然严重不足。此外，该项目将通过培训和教育下一代美国和国际青年科学家来建设科学能力。首席调查员将开发研究和教育项目，在项目的综合范围内支持K-12、本科生和研究生。重点将放在为来自迈阿密大都市区的西班牙裔高中生和其他少数族裔学生开发外联计划，目的是激发人们对科学教育的兴趣，并促进这些未被充分代表的群体在科学、技术、工程和数学等本科领域的招募和参与。这一教育项目的一个重要方面是，职业生涯早期科学家的研究实验室、一个久负盛名的拉美裔服务机构(佛罗里达国际大学)和迈阿密-戴德县当地公立学校系统之间的协同作用，所有这些都加入了通过接触灵感教学来激发对科学职业的兴趣的使命。近几十年来，珊瑚疾病已成为对珊瑚礁生态系统的重大威胁，因此令人极为关切。为了了解和影响珊瑚礁在当前挑战下的持久性，有必要了解珊瑚及其近亲(线虫属、珊瑚虫属)对病原体的免疫抵抗机制。首席调查员将阐明免疫启动在珊瑚虫对感染性病原体反复遭遇时的反应中的作用。该方法使用海葵模型苍白海葵来确定这种生物的免疫系统是否表现出对感染源的特定记忆，如随后暴露于病原体时加速的防御反应所表明的那样，这一现象在基础后生动物中仍基本未知。这项研究还调查了诱导保护性反应对多次重复的致病遭遇的持久影响。此外，转录谱和组织学方法将被用于促进发现支持免疫启动现象的分子和细胞机制。