Characterisation of cattle immune response from assaying methylation profiles in whole blood samples.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: The Roslin Institute
Abstract
With blood cell type composition well known to change in response to infections, cell mixture distribution promises to be an informative marker of infection status. However, traditional approaches for studying blood cellular composition, such as flow cytometry, require large volumes of fresh blood that can be difficult to collect and store in a field setting.
Advances in sequencing technologies, such as nanopore sequencing, have the promise to enable the rapid identification of methylation (a change in DNA associated with gene expression) profiles of whole blood samples in the field. The goal of this project is to investigate how DNA methylation profiles differ between different bovine immune cell types present in circulating blood, and how these profiles can be used to determine cell mixture distributions from DNA derived from whole blood. We will subsequently go on to investigate how these distributions change upon infection (with African trypanosomes) and the effectiveness of assaying blood DNA methylation profiles to determine infection status and immune response profiling.
Advances in sequencing technologies, such as nanopore sequencing, have the promise to enable the rapid identification of methylation (a change in DNA associated with gene expression) profiles of whole blood samples in the field. The goal of this project is to investigate how DNA methylation profiles differ between different bovine immune cell types present in circulating blood, and how these profiles can be used to determine cell mixture distributions from DNA derived from whole blood. We will subsequently go on to investigate how these distributions change upon infection (with African trypanosomes) and the effectiveness of assaying blood DNA methylation profiles to determine infection status and immune response profiling.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M010996/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
| 1807587 | Studentship | BB/M010996/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2020 |
| Description | Birrell-Gray Travelling Scholarship |
| Amount | £500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Department | The Roslin Institute |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2019 |
| End | 01/2020 |
| Description | British Society for Immunology Travel Award |
| Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Society For Immunology |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2019 |
| End | 01/2020 |
| Description | Erasmus+ |
| Amount | € 1,080 (EUR) |
| Organisation | Erasmus + |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2018 |
| End | 01/2019 |
| Description | Wellcome Genome Campus Scientific Conferences Bursary |
| Amount | £197 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Wellcome Genome Campus |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2017 |
| End | 07/2017 |
| Description | Generation of ATAC-seq and RRBS samples at The University of São Paulo |
| Organisation | Universidade de São Paulo |
| Country | Brazil |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have spent approximately 4 weeks at The University of São Paulo I to extract DNA and generate ATAC-seq samples from cattle immune cell types. The samples were then shipped back to Edinburgh to finish sample processing and sent for sequencing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaborating lab has provided the facilities to allow me to generate the required samples. They have also helped me to organise my trip and arranged access to animals for sampling at the Instituto de Zootecnia Faz Experimental de Sertãozinho. |
| Impact | Project is still ongoing. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Generation of ATAC-seq and RRBS samples in ILRI |
| Organisation | International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | I have spent approximately 4 weeks at ILRI to extract DNA and generate ATAC-seq samples from cattle immune cell types. The samples were then shipped back to Edinburgh to finish sample processing and sent for sequencing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaborating lab has provided the facilities in ILRI to allow me to generate the required samples. They have also helped me to organise my trip and provided the animals for me to collect my samples from. |
| Impact | Project is still ongoing. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | The Easter Bush Campus Open Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The open day consisted of multiple stalls showcasing some of the research undertaken at The Roslin Institute and I helped out on some of the stalls. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Workshop at The Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | About 25 pupils from a local high school attended a workshop at The Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre. I helped the students perform lab work and discussed by career and research with them. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Workshop at The National Museum of Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Two school groups (about 25 students in each group) attended a workshop run by The Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre. I helped the students perform lab work and discussed by career and research with them. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.nms.ac.uk/about-us/schools/schools-programme/sessions-and-activities-at-national-museum-... |