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Christopher Bayne
Professor Emeritus, Zoology
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RESEARCH:
As a comparative immunologist, I am interested in deciphering how immune systems evolved and how they function. Interests focus on innate immune systems and their modulation. My research group exploits two models: the rainbow trout, in which we study the acute phase response and the effects of stress on innate immunity, and molluscan schistosomiasis, in which we try to understand what makes one host strain susceptible and another resistant to the schistosome parasite.
Fish immunology. Within minutes of encountering a traumatic stressor, several proteins increase in concentration in trout plasma. We are seeking to characterize the full nature of this pre-acute phase response which we postulate contributes to anti-microbial and other defenses. Using suppression subtractive hybridization, we prepared a cDNA library of genes likely to be expressed at higher levels in livers of trout in the course of an inflammatory response, and found that the acute phase response resembles that which occurs in mammals. We have developed a DNA array that targets transcripts likely involved in innate immunity, carcinogenesis and toxic responses to toxins. This is being used to develop a profile of gene transcription in response to diverse stimuli. Applications include diagnostics for early detection of metabolic imbalance, responses to environmental xenobiotics and other stressors, and enhancement of innate defenses.
Molluscan schistosomiasis. We take a molecular genetic approach to studies of strains of snail that are constitutively resistant and others that are susceptible to Schistosoma mansoni. We address questions dealing with the basis for susceptibility differences, and with mechanisms exploited by the parasite in survival under immunologically hostile conditions. As oxygen-dependent cytotoxic pathways play a major role in the host’s ability to kill parasites, we are examining genes encoding enzymes relevant to these pathways. Strategies used by schistosomes to survive in snail hosts include secretion of factors that interfere with host snail leukocyte functions. We are characterizing such events at the macromolecular level.