Dr. Annemarie Meijer discoverer of the year
Annemarie Meijer of the IBL Molecular Cell Biology group has been voted discoverer of the year 2010 for the Leiden Faculty of Science. She received the honour for her molecular work on the immune system of zebra fish (Danio rerio). Annemarie Meijer of the IBL Molecular Cell Biology group has been voted discoverer of the year 2010 for the Leiden Faculty of Science. She received the honour for her molecular work on the immune system of zebra fish (Danio rerio).
Dr. Annemarie Meijer uses zebra fish embryos to study the innate immune response of vertebrates against pathogens. Since zebra fish embryos are completely transparent, specific immune reactions can be tracked inside the living organisms, using various cell marking techniques.
Important sets of genes
One cell type that she studies is the macrophage, which actively seeks out the infection location, ‘attacks’ pathogens, and attracts fellow macrophages. Meijer and coworkers have discovered important sets of genes in this macrophage reaction, which are switched on by the transcription factor Spi1, a key regulator of macrophage development. In the future, knowledge about these macrophage-specific genes may lead to the development of drugs to combat pathogens that manipulate the macrophage reaction, for instance the tuberculosis bacterium.
The discovery of novel early macrophage-specific genes
On April 27 last year, Annemarie Meijer published a paper in the medical journal Blood, with post-doc Anna Zakrzewska and PhD-student Chao Cui as shared first authors. This paper concerned the discovery of novel early macrophage-specific genes, which included a signal transducer important for the migration of macrophages in the innate immune response to bacterial infection.
Go to Faculty award site (in Dutch)
