Award details

Immune modulation by S531P polymorphism in p65

Reference	BBS/E/R/00002767
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Christopher Whitelaw
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	The Roslin Institute
Department	The Roslin Institute Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	8,125
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/10/2004
End date	30/09/2007
Duration	36 months

Abstract

This project is based on the hypothesis that different polymorphic variants of transcription factors can modulate the immune response in animals thereby offering a target for genetic or veterinary intervention. This hypothesis is based on the following observation. We have searched for polymorphisms in pigs that could reflect the genetic susceptibility of pigs to African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV). ASFV is highly infectious and causes rapid haemorrhagic death of domestic pigs and Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa). In contrast to the severe disease seen in domestic pigs, ASFV causes no clinical signs of disease in native African pigs, e.g. warthogs. ASFV encodes a number of proteins that mediate the host immune response. We postulated that mutations in host cellular targets of these virus proteins could modulate the progression of ASFV induced disease. Encouragingly, specific mutations were identified in key transcription factor components. At this stage, we do not know how significant these mutations are for modulating the immune response to infection and, more broadly, whether they have (or could have) a role in determining the immune sensitivity of livestock to a variety of environmental challenges. In this project we aim to determine how uniform the genotypes are in various pig populations; whether these polymorphisms exist in other species; and what these polymorphisms do to transcription factor signaling, specifically those induced by cytokines and other immune modulators, through reporter gene transfection studies; and correlate this with effects on cell growth and death (apoptosis); including response to exogenous compounds.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Animal Sciences (AS)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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