Bibliography: leaves 113-144. / ix, 144 leaves, [56] leaves of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Investigates the functions of the maternal, protein secretions of the endoparasitoid wasps Venturia canescens Gravenhorst regarding their role in providing protection against the host's immune system. Also investigates mucinous protein secretions on the egg surface and coagulation reactions and their role in protecting eggs against host cellular attacks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Applied & Molecular Ecology, 2002

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-127).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Committee Chair: Julia Babensee ; Committee Members: Barbara Boyan, John Brash, Andres Garcia, and Niren Murthy. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Subsets of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with distinct patterns of disease manifestations and autoantibody production have been reported, but seldom have these two phenomena been analysed together. Cluster analysis was performed on 1928 Chinese SLE patients based on autoantibody profile and the frequencies of various clinical manifestations were compared between each cluster. Separate association analyses between individual autoantibodies and clinical manifestations, as well as between clinical manifestations, were also performed. This study identifies three separate autoantibody clusters each with different clinical manifestations, and proposes that the phenomena of autoantibody clustering and clinical subsets may be inter-related. Patient clusters could also be stratified into a bipolar spectrum. On one end are patients with over-representation of anti-dsDNA and renal disorder; whilst on the other end are two distinct autoantibody clusters (anti-Sm/anti-RNP/aPL and aPL/anti-Ro/anti-La) with overlapping of other non-renal manifestations. Patient stratification could aid disease prediction and subsequent management. These findings may also elucidate disease pathogenesis and guide future study on potential common pathological processes within autoantibody clusters. / published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Master / Master of Research in Medicine

Despite the development of various systems to generate live recombinant Salmonella Typhimurium vaccine strains, little work has been performed to systematically evaluate and compare their relative immunogenicity. Such information would provide invaluable guidance for the future rational design of live recombinant Salmonella oral vaccines. Here, a series of recombinant Salmonella Typhimurium strains were constructed to express either the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) or a fragment of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein from the H5N1 influenza virus, as model antigens. To investigate different delivery and expression methods, antigens were expressed from the chromosome, from high or low-copy plasmids, or encoded on a eukaryotic expression plasmid. Antigens were targeted for expression in the cytoplasm, or the outer membrane. In addition, combinations of two expression strategies were employed to evaluate the efficacy of combined delivery approaches. After investigating in vitro and in vivo antigen expression, growth and infection abilities, the immunogenicity of the constructed recombinant Salmonella strains was evaluated and compared in mice. Using soluble model antigen EGFP, my results indicated that vaccine strains with high and stable antigen expression exhibited high B cell responses, while eukaryotic expression or colonization with good construct stability is critical for T cell responses. For insoluble antigen model HA, the outer membrane strategy induced better B cell and T cell responses than cytoplasmic strategy. Most notably, the combination of two different expression strategies did not increase the immune response elicited as initially expected. Based on the advantages, deleterious or synergistic effects of different strategies identified in this study, I conclude that different construction strategies of recombinant Salmonella vaccine strains are needed for different forms of antigens (soluble or insoluble antigens). If the antigen (such as EGFP) is soluble and easily expressed in Salmonella, a low-copy plasmid-based strategy should be employed, as it can provoke both strong B cell and T cell responses with better plasmid stability. If a T cell response is preferred, a eukaryotic plasmid, or chromosome-based, cytoplasmic-expression strategy may achieve better results. For heterologous antigens that are likely to be expressed in an insoluble form inside Salmonella (such as HA), an outer membrane-targeting approach is recommended. In addition, I found that the combination of two expression strategies did not enhance the immune response, and hence I caution the use of such an approach. / published_or_final_version / Biochemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multi-organ autoimmune disease that is characterised by diverse clinical manifestations. Immunologically, SLE features a prominent “interferon (IFN) signature” which is marked by an elevated expression of type I IFN-regulated genes in blood and tissue cells of patients with this condition. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), also known as the most potent type I IFN-producing cells, are therefore considered the major culprit in SLE pathogenesis. Previous studies from our group have demonstrated abnormalities in circulating and bone marrow (BM)-derived pDCs from SLE patients. In the light of this, the present study was undertaken to further evaluate the role of pDCs in SLE development and to seek for key mediator(s) that might lead to functional aberrations of pDCs in this condition. Recently, a growing attention has been drawn to microRNAs (miRNAs) for their critical role in regulating immune cell function and strong association with autoimmune diseases. Therefore, the current study hypothesised that microRNAs played an important role in modulating pDC response(s) to toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation, and that dysregulated microRNA expression induction was responsible for pDC abnormalities in SLE pathogenesis. The spontaneous lupus mouse model, F1 hybrid of New Zealand Black and White strains (NZB/W F1), was used in this study. The disease profile of NZB/W F1 was characterised based on the development of serum antinuclear antibodies and proteinuria. Specifically, the development of lupus in these mice (symptomatic mice) was illustrated by high titres of serum antinuclear antibodies, persistent proteinuria, glomerular immune complex deposition and elevated expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes in the kidney. Young NZB/W F1 (pre-symptomatic) as well as age- and sex-matched non-lupus maternal NZW mice were used as controls. While the development of pDCs appeared to be unaffected by lupus, elevated upregulation of MHC class II and co-stimulatory molecules, and induction of IFN-stimulated gene Ifitm3 in TLR7-stimulated lupus pDCs suggested phenotypic and functional hypersensitivity of these cells. Furthermore, analysis of the expression profile of miRNAs in pDCs upon TLR7 activation identified six differentially regulated targets. Among these, miR-155 was the most highly induced and its induction was consistently higher in pDCs from symptomatic NZB/W F1 mice. Nevertheless, transfection of miR-155 mimics into pre-symptomatic pDCs resulted in a reduced expression of Ifitm3, suggesting that miR-155 has a negative regulatory role in IFN production in pDCs. The finding of upregulated induction of miR-155 in lupus pDCs reported in this thesis is in line with previous studies, which showed increased expression of miR-155 in splenic lymphocytes of lupus NZB/W F1 mice. Results obtained from the transfection experiments are also in accordance with other previous studies, which showed miR-155 functioned as a negative feedback regulator of IFN production in pDCs. However, the mechanism of the association between miR-155 expression and increased IFN response in SLE requires further investigations. It is hoped that findings from this study contribute to a better understanding of SLE pathogenesis and ignite future interests in evaluating the molecular layer of regulation in autoimmunity. / published_or_final_version / Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

abstract / Microbiology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy