How complex is the immune system of fish: Lessons from analysis of the cytokine network
| Dates: | 20 March 2015 |
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| Times: | 11:00 - 12:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Faculty of Life Sciences |
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| Who is it for: | University staff |
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| Speaker: | Professor Chris Secombes |
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It has been known for over 50 years that fish possess a specific immune system, able to respond to immunisation and generate specific antibodies, and this has led to the successful use of vaccines in aquaculture. However, the underlying molecules and genetic mechanisms underpinning these responses have only begun to be discovered, aided by the availability of sequenced genomes of many fish species. This talk will focus on the cytokine network as an exemplar of the complex immune system present. It will highlight the impact of both a teleost wide and a salmonid genome duplication event that has resulted in multiple paralogues of many cytokine genes. It will then examine the interferon/ antiviral responses, to illustrate the similarities and differences in such responses with higher vertebrates. Such advances in our understanding of the fish immune system give the potential to manipulate these responses further to improve the health of farmed fish.
Speaker
Professor Chris Secombes
Role: Head, Scottish Fish Immunology Research Centre
Organisation: University of Aberdeen
Biography: Prof Secombes is the Regius Chair of Natural History at the University of Aberdeen, and Head of the Scottish Fish Immunology Research Centre. He has over 37 years of experience in fish immunology and has published over 400 papers in the field. He is a Past President of the International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology (2003-2006), a past Head of School of Biological Sciences at Aberdeen (2002-2011) and an Honorary life member of the International Society of Fish & Shellfish Immunology. In 2007 he was awarded the Alexander Ninian Bruce prize from the Royal Society of Edinburgh for “his outstanding contribution to our understanding of the immune system of fish, particularly salmonids”, and in 2014 he was awarded an honorary DSc from the University of Hull. His current research focus is the elucidation of the cytokine network in fish, to help identify protective mechanisms and in vitro correlates of disease resistance.
Travel and Contact Information
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Michael Smith Lecture Theatre
Michael Smith Building
Manchester
