Siddle, Hannah V - University of Southampton - Discipline of Biological Sciences

个人简介

Career history 2013-present: Lecturer in Molecular Biology, Unievrsity of Southampton, UK. 2011-2013: EMBO Postdoctoral Research Fellow. University of Cambridge, UK. 2009-2011: NHMRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow. University of Cambridge, UK. Academic qualifications 2005-2009: PhD (Evolutionary genomics and genetics). University of Sydney, NSW, Australia. 1999-2004: Bachelor of Science (Hons Class I/Bachelor of Law). Macquarie University, NSW, Australia.

研究领域

What happens when cancer becomes an infectious disease? Cancer is not usually an infectious disease, but in some cases tumour cells acquire the ability to pass between individuals in a population. These cancers can be deadly to the species they infect and also challenge our understanding of how tumours grow and develop. There are four naturally occurring contagious cancers, Canine Transmissible venereal Tumour (CTVT) in dogs, a leukemia in clams and two distinct cancers among Tasmanian devils, Devil Facial Tumour 1 (DFT1) and Devil Facial Tumour 2 (DFT2). Because the adaptive immune system will readily destroy cells from genetically disparate individuals (as occurs during transplant rejection), it should not be possible for cancer cells to spread through a wild population. The proteins responsible for transplant rejection are called Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules, which are variable between individuals in a population. These molecules bind to short proteins and deliver them to the surface of all cells where they are scanned by circulating immune cells (e.g. T cells). MHC/peptide complexes are essential for communicating to the immune system that a cell is self, non-self, infected or malignant. We are particularly interested in the two contagious cancers that circulate in the Tasmanian devil population, DFT1 and DFT2. These tumour cells pass between individuals during biting behavior and tumours form predominantly around the face and neck of infected animals, growing rapidly and causing close to 100% mortality. What began with one individual has now killed many thousands and the Tasmanian devil is listed as an endangered species. Our research is focused on why and how the MHC system ‘breaks down’ in the case of contagious cancers and has two primary goals. First, we are working on developing a peptide vaccine that could be used to protect the Tasmanian devil in the wild, preventing extinction of this species. Second, our research will enhance our understanding of how cancers avoid the immune system, which could have implications for cancer treatment in humans.

近期论文

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A second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils - Pye, Ruth J., Pemberton, David, Tovar, Cesar, Tubio, Jose M.C., Dun, Karen A., Fox, Samantha, Darby, Jocelyn, Hayes, Dane, Knowles, Graeme W., Kreiss, Alexandre, Siddle, Hannah V.T., Swift, Kate, Lyons, A. Bruce, Murchison, Elizabeth P. and Woods, Gregory M. Published:2016Publication:Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVolume:113, (2)Page Range:374-379doi:10.1073/pnas.1519691113 A tale of two tumours: comparison of the immune escape strategies of contagious cancers - Siddle, Hannah V. and Kaufman, Jim Published:2013Publication:Molecular ImmunologyVolume:55, (2)Page Range:190-193doi:10.1016/j.molimm.2012.10.017PMID:22341448 Reversible epigenetic down-regulation of MHC molecules by devil facial tumour disease illustrates immune escape by a contagious cancer - Siddle, Hannah V., Kreiss, Alexandre, Tovar, Cesar, Yuen, Chun Kit, Cheng, Yuanyuan, Belov, Katherine, Swift, Kate, Pearse, Anne-Maree, Hamede, Rodrigo, Jones, Menna E, Skjødt, Karsten, Woods, Gregory M and Kaufman, Jim Published:2013Publication:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Volume:110, (13)Page Range:5103-5108doi:10.1073/pnas.1219920110PMID:16868549 The tammar wallaby major histocompatibility complex shows evidence of past genomic instability - Siddle, Hannah V., Deakin, Janine E., Coggill, Penny, Whilming, Laurens G., Harrow, Jennifer, Kaufman, Jim, Beck, Stephan and Belov, Katherine Published:2011Publication:BMC GenomicsVolume:12Page Range:1-15doi:10.1186/1471-2164-12-421PMID:21854592 MHC gene copy number variation in Tasmanian devils: implications for the spread of a contagious cancer - Siddle, Hannah V., Marzec, Jolanta, Cheng, Yuanyuan, Jones, Menna and Belov, Katherine Published:2010Publication:Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological SciencesVolume:277, (1690)Page Range:2001-2006doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.2362PMID:4572632