Understanding the adaptive immune responses against newly emerged viruses, SARS coronavirus and avian h5n1 influenza a virus 1

UNDERSTANDING THE ADAPTIVE IMMUNE
RESPONSES AGAINST NEWLY EMERGED VIRUSES,
SARS CORONAVIRUS AND AVIAN H5N1 INFLUENZA
VIRUS


OH HSUEH LING, JANICE
(Master of Science), NUS

A THESIS SUBMITTED
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE



2010

Acknowledgements

I would like to sincerely thank my main supervisor, Dr Tan Yee Joo and
co-supervisor Prof Michael Kemeny for their valuable guidance throughout the
course of my PhD studies. I would also like to extend my thanks to my PhD
committee members, Prof Hong Wan Jin and Dr Hwang Le-Ann for their advice.
Special thanks to Dr Ali Mirazimi and his lab members, in particular Dr
Sara Akerstrom, for their help in the H5N1 infectious studies done in BSL4
facilities in the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska
Institute. For the collaboration work on SARS memory T cell response, I would

like to thank Prof Antonio Bertoletti and his lab members from the Singapore
Institute of Clinical Sciences for all the help and guidance and Dr Leong Hoe
Nam and Dr Ling Khoon Lin from the Singapore General Hospital for kindly
providing patient samples.
I thank Dr Sunil K. Lal, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology, India and Dr Q. Duong Hong, Institute of Biotechnology, Hanoi,
Vietnam, and Falko G. Falkner, Baxter Bioscience, Austria for providing H5N1
virus-derived DNA constructs and Prof Vincent T. K. Chow, NUS, Singapore for
providing H3N2 virus-derived DNA constructs. I also thank Dr Alexander N.
Zakhartchouk, University of Saskatchewan, Canada for providing the human
adenovirus 5 vector and Mia Brytting, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease
Control and Mikael Berg and Siamak Zohari, Swedish National Veterinary
Institute, Sweden for providing the H5N1 influenza A viruses isolated in Sweden.
I also thank Prof Chan Soh Ha, NUS, Singapore for providing the Epstein-Barr
virus transformed lymphoblastoid B cell lines and Dr Gijsbert Grotenbreg’s
laboratory, NUS, Singapore for performing the HLA typing of the SARS
individuals.
To all fellow laboratory members, past and present, in the Collaborative
Anti-Viral Research group from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, my
deepest thanks for all your help and encouragement. Last but not least, sincere
appreciation and thanks to my family for their patience and support all these
years.
Author’s publications

1. Hsueh-Ling Janice Oh, Sara Akerstrom, Shuo Shen, Sandor Bereczky,
Helen Karlberg, Jonas Klingstrom, Sunil K. Lal, Ali Mirazimi, and Yee
Joo Tan. (2010). An antibody against a novel and conserved epitope in the
hemagglutinin 1 subunit neutralizes numerous H5N1 influenza viruses.
Journal of Virology. 84(16): 8275-8286.

2. Shuo Shen, Geetha Madadevappa, Hsueh-Ling Janice Oh, Boon Yu Wee,
Yook-Wah Choi, Le-Ann Hwang, Seng Gee Lim, Wanjin Hong, Sunil K.
Lal, and Yee Joo Tan. (2008). Comparing the antibody responses against
recombinant hemagglutinin proteins of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus
expressed in insect cells and bacteria. Journal of Medical Virology. 80:
1972-1983.