What evolutionary and comparative immunology can teach about fish and human immune systems
Penn Vet’s J. Oriol Sunyer explores how studying the evolution of the immune system reveals surprising connections between fish and human immunity, and what these discoveries could mean for the development of new therapies for both fish and humans.
2 min. read
J. Oriol Sunyer’s research dives deep into the origins of adaptive immunity to understand how it first evolved hundreds of millions of years ago in fish. By studying rainbow trout and salmon, Sunyer, a professor of immunology and microbiology, and his team at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine are uncovering surprising connections between fish and human immunity, including how antibodies help shape the composition and functionality of the gut microbiome. Their discoveries challenge long-standing assumptions in immunology and reveal critical clues about host-microbiome interactions, as well as the mechanisms of induction of adaptive immune responses. And as global temperatures rise, Sunyer and investigators are beginning to explore what shifting climate patterns could mean for the immune system and health of aquatic species and beyond.
Penn Vet’s Oriol Sunyer points out rainbow trout, a fish species used in his research.
(Image: Courtesy of Penn Vet)
Sunyer says his team is interested in understanding how adaptive immunity, or a body’s learned reaction to foreign substances, has evolved since it first emerged in fish about 400 million years ago.
“This year in Nature Microbiology, we reported the surprising and previously unrecognized key role of the IgM antibody class in regulating the gut microbiome and its metabolism. This finding broke the long-held paradigm that IgA was the key antibody class in performing such roles. Thus, our studies are currently focused on understanding the mechanisms by which IgM (either alone or in coordination with other classes of mucosal immunoglobulins) modulates the composition of the microbiome and its metabolism,” he says.
“In 2023, in Science Immunology, we reported that adaptive immune responses in fish are induced in germinal center (GC)-like structures, a finding that broke the long-held paradigm that fish did not contain such organized lymphoid microstructures. Thus, another flagship project in our lab is understanding the mechanisms through which these newly discovered GC-like structures are induced and contribute to the production of mucosal and systemic antibody responses against pathogens and microbiota.”
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