Geoenvironmental Restoration Engineering

我的研究项目集中在鸭的免疫反应，试图了解鸭和流感病毒的宿主-病原体关系。鸭是自然界中流感病毒的主要宿主和贮存者。虽然鸭子不断感染流感，但大多数毒株几乎不引起病理学变化。免疫应答的三个分支涉及流感清除;涉及干扰素的先天性应答、涉及杀伤T细胞的细胞免疫和抗体。以前的研究表明，鸭的抗体反应很差。在拟议的工作中，我们调查鸭细胞免疫反应的限制。无效的抗体应答和细胞免疫应答的局限性都有助于野鸭中流感的持续存在。鸭可以再次感染同一株流感病毒，与人类不同，它们不会产生二次免疫反应（强度更大，更有效）。这有助于使病毒在自然界中永久存在。细胞记忆反应差的基础是我研究的重点。我们还在研究鸭子独特的先天免疫反应，使它们能够在高致病性禽流感中存活。这两个研究问题相互交叉，因为强大的先天免疫反应对于病毒清除至关重要，并开启适当的细胞免疫反应。我们希望将这项研究转化为如何操纵免疫反应的知识，使家禽疫苗更有效。

My research program has focused on the immune response of ducks in an attempt to understand the host-pathogen relationship of ducks and influenza virus. Ducks are the primary host and reservoir of influenza virus in nature. While ducks are continually infected with influenza, most strains cause them little pathology. Three arms of the immune response are involved in influenza clearance; innate responses involving interferon, cellular immunity involving killer T cells, and antibodies. Previous work showed the antibody responses of ducks are poor. In the proposed work we investigate constraints on cellular immune responses in ducks. Both ineffectual antibody responses, and limitations of the cellular immune response contribute to the persistence of influenza in wild ducks. Ducks can be re-infected with the same strain of influenza, and unlike humans they do not mount a secondary immune response (larger in magnitude and more effective). This helps perpetuate the virus in nature. The basis of the poor cellular memory response is the focus of my research. We are also investigating the unique innate immune response of the duck that allows them to survive highly pathogenic avian influenza. These two research questions intersect, since a robust innate immune response is both critical for viral clearance, and turns on an appropriate cellular immune response. We would hope to translate this research into knowledge of how to manipulate the immune response to make poultry vaccines more effective.