Prof V Nair, Prof D Dunn-Walters
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Reference: 2018/06/VN/DD-W
Antibodies produced in response to infection/vaccination are key in protection against diseases. Compared to the most species where the antibody repertoire is generated by V, D and J recombination, chickens achieve this by gene conversion using multiple upstream V pseudogenes. Studies on the dynamics of the antibody-mediated immune responses are hampered by the absence of quantitative, high-throughput systems to analyse individual antibody-secreting cells. Recent advances in microfluidic systems and next generation sequence analysis have enabled the prospects of examining the B-cell repertoire of single B cells.
The major aim of this project is to determine the antibody repertoire of chickens vaccinated with the highly immunogenic fusion (F) protein of Newcastle disease virus using single cell sequencing of B cells with the Dolomite Bio microencapsulation system. The project, built on the combined virology and immunology expertise at Pirbright and Surrey, will give excellent opportunity for a motivated student to acquire the knowledge for undertaking innovative bioscience research in the field of molecular immunology. The application of cutting edge technologies including single B-cell sequencing to analyse the complexity of the B-cell repertoire in avian species in response to vaccination will help in determining the antigenic epitopes on the virus, paving way for developing improved vaccines using structural vaccinology approaches.
The student will work at both institutions (The Pirbright Institute and the University of Surrey) as appropriate during the course of the studentship and will be registered with the University of Surrey.
Funding Notes
Project is jointly funded between The Pirbright Institute and University of Surrey. Eligible students will receive minimum annual stipend £14,777; university registration fees paid. Open to science graduates (with or who anticipate obtaining at least 2.1 or equivalent in relevant biological subject in undergraduate degree, or Masters degree - subject to university regulations). Additional practical experience is welcomed. Open to UK students and eligible EU students who qualify for home-rated fees in line with RCUK Residential Guidelines for Research Council Studentships.
Students without English as first language must provide evidence of IELTS of 7.0, no less than 6.5 in subsections.
References
1. Michael J. H. Ratcliffe and Sonja Hartle (2014) Cells, the Bursa of Fabricius and the generation of antibody repertoires. In Avian Immunology 2nd Ed, (Eds: Schat, K. A, Kaspers, B & Kaiser, P) Academic Press pp: 65-91.
2. Hedda Wardemann and ChristianE.Busse (2017) Novel approaches to analyze immunoglobulin repertoires. Trends inImmunology 38 (7):471-82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.it.2017.05.003
3. Stefano Vergani, Ilya Korsunsky, Andrea Nicola Mazzarello, Gerardo Ferrer, Nicholas Chiorazzi and Davide Bagnara (2017) Novel Method for high-throughput full length IgH v-d-J sequencing of the immune repertoire from bulk B-cells with single-cell resolution. Front. Immunol. 8:1157. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01157.
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