Meenakshi 马利克副教授 has been awarded a three-year research grant totaling $480,000 to exp和 her study of 土拉杆菌内这种细菌会导致一种潜在的致命疾病——土拉菌病. The grant is being funded by the National Institute of Allergy 和 Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The grant is the “competing continuation” of a previously-funded NIH research grant that Dr. 2013年收到的. NIH拨款的竞争性延续很难得到保证, with renewal decisions indicative of significant contributions to the peer reviewed literature during the previous grant period (see below).
Another area evaluated in determining whether to renew a grant is the investigator’s ability to train undergraduate 和 graduate students in these fields. Dr. 马利克, 谁是基础和临床科学系的成员, 有在实验室指导学生的悠久历史吗, 和 this new grant will enable more ACPHS students to gain meaningful research experience, 尤其是学院的学生 B.S. 在微生物学 和 M.S. 分子生物科学专业.
“对公众和国家安全构成最高风险”
土拉杆菌内 has been classified by the Centers for Disease Control as a Category A bioterrorism agent. Organisms or toxins in this class are defined as “posing the highest risk to the public 和 national security.” Other Category A agents include pathogens causing anthrax, plague, 和 smallpox.
土拉杆菌内 is particularly dangerous because it can be easily aerosolized 和 survive in small droplets for prolonged periods of time. If infected 和 left untreated, the mortality rate can be as high as 60%. 目前，FDA还没有批准预防土拉菌病的疫苗.
初始nih资助项目(2013 - 2016)
如果某人被致病的有机体感染, the body’s immune system instinctively responds as the first line of defense. 但随着 土拉杆菌内, the immune response is effectively muted in the first 48-72 hours following 感染, thereby inhibiting the body’s ability to successfully fight off the bacterium.
博士的重点. 马利克的第一笔NIH拨款是为了探索如何 弗朗西斯氏菌属 土拉杆菌内 stifles the immune system 和 try to determine what causes the protective immune response to “kick in” after this initial period.
在这项资助的过程中. 马利克’s lab found several genetic factors that play a role in temporarily disabling the body’s initial immune response to a 弗朗西斯氏菌属 土拉杆菌内 感染. 在确定了这些因素之后，Dr. 马利克 removed the genes encoding these factors from the bacterium 和 saw the immune response improve – an encouraging sign that may begin to point the way towards the development of a vaccine.
Over the period of the grant, she authored six publications in peer reviewed journals including 分子微生物学 和 生物化学杂志. Five different ACPHS undergraduate 和 graduate students earned listings as co-authors on the six publications. Her findings 和 related publications in part led the NIH committee who reviewed her new grant application to write, “上一个项目期间的生产力非常出色.”
美国国立卫生研究院新资助项目(2016 - 2019)
The human body has two types of immune responses to an 感染: (1) innate immunity 和 (2) adaptive immunity. Innate immunity is a general immune response that begins at the onset of any 感染 和 typically continues for 5-7 days. 在初始阶段之后, the body begins developing antibody 和 “cell-mediated” immune responses that are targeted towards the specific 感染; this is adaptive immunity.
直到最近, 人们认为这些免疫反应是两种不同的行为, but a growing body of evidence now suggests that the innate immune response plays an important role in shaping the adaptive immune responses.
Dr. 马利克 will focus her efforts over the next three years on studying the connection between the innate 和 adaptive immune responses in 土拉杆菌内 感染. 具体地说, she will seek to determine if an improved innate immune response can lead to a more effective adaptive immune response, 并最终, 帮助开发有效的土拉菌病疫苗.
在这些努力的同时, she will continue searching for additional factors that may be responsible for muting the body’s initial immune response to a 土拉杆菌内 感染.
引自博士. 马利克
“挑战在于 土拉杆菌内 is that very little is still known about how this bacterium causes immune suppression. As soon as we discover a few factors responsible for muting the body’s immune responses, we find out that this pathogen possesses multiple redundant mechanisms to circumvent our actions 和 shut down the body’s defense systems. It has been challenging to underst和se mechanisms, but we are making progress.”
引用自NIH拨款审查委员会
“(奥巴马)博士的研究结果. 马利克’s research] could have a major impact on the development of immunotherapies 和 vaccines against this select agent (土拉杆菌内) … The enthusiasm is very high for this application from an outst和ing investigator.”
研究 reported in this press release was supported by the National Institute of Allergy 和 Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under award number 2R15AI107698-02. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors 和 does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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