Head of Division
Professor Wayne Thomas BSc Hons PhD

Professor Thomas currently holds a Professorship at the University of Western Australia and is a Senior Principal Research Fellow, NHMRC. He has been division head since 1990. He has previously worked at the Medical Research Council, Clinical Research Centre London and at Walter and Eliza Institute for Medical Research. He is the chairman of the International Allergen Nomenclature Committee.

Divisional Summary
Research in the Division of Molecular Biotechnology encompasses studies on the mechanisms of inflammation and allergy and the development of methods to treat or prevent diseases resulting from these processes.

Allergen Group

The allergy research in Molecular Biotechnology investigates 1) the development of improved immunotherapy with molecularly defined allergens and molecularly engineered derivatives of allergens, 2) comparisons of immune responses to defined allergens to elucidate the differences between responses that lead to allergy and responses that do not, and 3) since many people with severe allergy do not develop disease, the study of other mucosal immune responses that could influence the pathogenesis.

The studies have focussed on house dust mite allergy, which is the most important source of allergy worldwide and in Australia, and for comparison allergy to cats, which shows several differences in the sensitisation process. The characterisation of cat allergens and the responses that they induce is also a neglected area of investigation such that the current clinical assessment of the severity of the allergy may be compromised by the use of extracts that do not contain effective amounts of all of the important allergens. The study of responses to other mucosal antigens has examined responses to common mucosal colonising bacteria Haemophilus influenzae and is now being extended to Streptococcus pneumoniae. In order to investigate questions that cannot be examined in humans murine models of inhalation allergy to house dust mite allergen homologue papain and mucosal infection with Pasteurella pneumotropica have been developed

Inflammation Group

Members of the Inflammation Research Group are elucidating the mechanisms by which the UVB wavelengths in sunlight can modulate immune responses. UV exposure is one of the most important environmental factors affecting man. We know that UV exposure can initiate skin cancers but it is because of a suppressed immune system that these cancers develop and grow and are not immunologically rejected. The UV-induced suppression of the immune system is systemic and causes reduced responses to allergens delivered to the airways. The results have been consistent in two models of respiratory airways disease in mice in which UV irradiation of skin reduces some of the hallmark symptoms of asthma. We have shown that UV-irradiation of skin causes the induction of regulatory cells which when transferred into new mice can modulate immune responses to respiratory allergens. Extensive studies are ongoing in an attempt to identify and characterise these cells and their mode of action. Studies are also focussing on the immunological potency of vitamin D that is formed in UV-irradiated skin. As a model we paint the active vitamin D on skin and investigate the immunological consequences. In other studies we are investigating the effect of UV irradiation of skin on cells in the bone marrow. Our studies suggest that if we deliver sufficient UV rays to the shaved skin of mice to cause some inflammation (similar to a sunburn), the bone marrow is stimulated to produce greater numbers of cells which in turn would be attracted back to the inflamed skin site. However, as a homeostatic or compensatory response, these cells may not have reduced immune potential.

In a second stream of research, Members of the Inflammation Research Group are studying the mechanisms by which anti-inflammatory cytokines can regulate the production of inflammatory mediators by human macrophages and other cells of the monocyte lineage. We have previously identified new molecules rapidly produced in human monocytes exposed to the anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-4. In 2007, our studies concentrated on examining the regulatory function of suppressor of cytokine signalling-1 (SOCS-1) as a molecule rapidly induced by interleukin-4 and perhaps representing an important mechanism of control by interleukin-4. It has been necessary to infect monocytes and macrophages with a SOCS-1-encoding virus and then to examine inflammatory mediator production by these infected cells. Studies to examine the anti-inflammatory properties of SOCS-1 and other similar proteins are continuing in human blood monocytes, and inflammatory cells isolated from the fluid drained from swollen knees of patients with inflammatory arthritis. These cells are important as it is these inflammatory cells that must be regulated during inflammation.

Contact
Email - wayne@ichr.uwa.edu.au
Phone - +61 8 9489 7777
Fax - +61 8 9489 7700