|
Project properties |
|
| Title | Understanding the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID) virus neutralisation capacity of the breast milk. |
| Group | Systems and Synthetic Biology |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 36 |
| Supervisor(s) | Dr. Edoardo Saccenti (SSB), Kaspar Hettinga |
| Examiner(s) | Dr. Edoardo Saccenti; TBD |
| Contact info | robert1.smith@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2024/02/02 |
| End date | |
| Description | Breastfeeding can provide nutrition and bioactive components for infants. During the last two years, several studies have determined that the immunoglobulins in human milk can act against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and reduce the infection rate for infants. However, some general immune components in human milk that may potentially be acting against COVID-19 remains unknown. Therefore, we performed proteomics analysis using human milk samples from mothers that were, or were not, previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. Non-targeted proteomics was used to compare human milk from these mothers in two perspectives: (1) prior covid infection (2) SARS-CoV-2 virus neutralisation capacity of the breast milk.
The aim of the project is characterize human milk with relation to COVID infection and to understand its capacity of virus neutralization. In this project you will deploy an array a statistical and machine learning tools in combination with the reconstruction of biological networks and analysis to highlight key milk components involved in shaping the virus neutralisation capacity of the breast milk. This project is in collaboration between the Laboratory of Systems and Synthetic Biology and the Food Quality and Design group. References 1. Hettinga K, van Valenberg H, de Vries S, Boeren S, van Hooijdonk T, van Arendonk J, et al. (2011) The Host Defense Proteome of Human and Bovine Milk. PLoS ONE 6(4): e19433. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019433. 2. van Keulen BJ, Romijn M, Bondt A, Dingess KA, Kontopodi E, van der Straten K, den Boer MA, Burger JA, Poniman M, Bosch BJ, Brouwer PJM, de Groot CJM, Hoek M, Li W, Pajkrt D, Sanders RW, Schoonderwoerd A, Tamara S, Timmermans RAH, Vidarsson G, Stittelaar KJ, Rispens TT, Hettinga KA, van Gils MJ, Heck AJR, van Goudoever JB. Human Milk from Previously COVID-19-Infected Mothers: The Effect of Pasteurization on Specific Antibodies and Neutralization Capacity. Nutrients. 2021; 13(5):1645. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13051645. 3. Pieter M. Dekker, Sjef Boeren, Johannes B. van Goudoever, Jacques J. M. Vervoort, and Kasper A. Hettinga. Exploring Human Milk Dynamics: Interindividual Variation in Milk Proteome, Peptidome, and Metabolome. J. Proteome Res. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00879. 4. Zhang, L., van Dijk, A.D.J. & Hettinga, K. An interactomics overview of the human and bovine milk proteome over lactation. Proteome Sci 15, 1 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12953-016-0110-0. |
| Used skills | Statistics and programming; Relating results to existing or novel biological knowledge. |
| Requirements | Ability to program in R and (basic) statistics and biological knowledge as well are desired skills. |