Katie Doores

Last updated
Katie J. Doores
Born
Katherine Jane Doores

United Kingdom
Nationality British
Education University of Oxford
OccupationBiochemist
Years active2007-present

Katherine Jane Doores is a British biochemist who is a senior lecturer in the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences at King's College London. During the COVID-19 pandemic Doores studied the levels of antibodies in patients who had suffered from COVID-19. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Doores was born in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Doores received an MChem in chemistry from the University of Oxford. In 2008, Doores received a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford. Ben G. Davis was her advisor. [2] In 2013, she completed post doctoral work in the Department of Immunology and Microbial Sciences at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

Research and career

When Doores was a graduate student at Oxford, she studied glycoimmunology in the laboratory of professor Davis. [3] Glycoimmunology is an emerging research field which looks at how immune response is moderated by carbohydrates (glycans). At the Scripps Research Institute as part of her post doctoral work, she worked on the glycobiology on HIV and broadly-neutralizing antibodies. [4] At Scripps, Doores worked alongside Dennis Burton, where she studied the "flower-like" envelope protein on HIV. These envelope protein penetrates host cells and create antibody-resistant glycans. [5] By investigating this envelope protein, Doores looked to identify sites which are involved with viral function. By neutralising sites such as these (the high-mannose patch), Doores hoped to protect against HIV infection. [5] [6]

From 2013 to 2017, Doores was a lecturer in the Department of Infectious Diseases at King's College London. Doores was awarded a Medical Research Council fellowship to establish her own laboratory at King's College. She was made a European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Young Investigator in 2017. [7] In 2017, Doores became a senior lecturer in the Department of Infectious Diseases at King's College.[ citation needed ]

Many disease-causing pathogens are coated in carbohydrates. Moores investigates the behaviour of these carbohydrates in host–pathogen interactions. She hopes that by understanding the role of these carbohydrates it will be possible to develop novel therapeutic strategies and vaccinations. Alongside developing new medical therapies, Moores is interested in how the body responds to carbohydrate antigens in the form of antibody recognition. [8] Her work has primarily focussed on the carbohydrate antigens on HIV-1. [8] The envelope glycoprotein GP120 of HIV-1 is covered in N-linked-glycans. These glycans are the target of BNabs (broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies), and Moores is studying how these antibodies evolve in vivo. [8] This understanding will allow the develop of new vaccines that encourage the generation of antibodies that can protect against pathogenic bacteria. [8]

During the COVID-19 pandemic Doores studied the levels of antibodies in patients who had suffered from COVID-19 in Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. [9] [10] Her research showed that while 60% of COVID-19 patients elicited a strong antibody response, only 17% of them retained this potency three months later. [1] [11] [12] In some cases, patients entirely lost their antibody response. [1] These results implied that immunity to COVID-19 might be short lived, and that people may become reinfected during a second wave of infection. [1]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glycoprotein</span> Protein with oligosaccharide modifications

Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known as glycosylation. Secreted extracellular proteins are often glycosylated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mannose</span> Chemical compound

Mannose is a sugar monomer of the aldohexose series of carbohydrates. It is a C-2 epimer of glucose. Mannose is important in human metabolism, especially in the glycosylation of certain proteins. Several congenital disorders of glycosylation are associated with mutations in enzymes involved in mannose metabolism.

Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate, i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule in order to form a glycoconjugate. In biology, glycosylation usually refers to an enzyme-catalysed reaction, whereas glycation may refer to a non-enzymatic reaction.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">DC-SIGN</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Envelope glycoprotein GP120</span> Glycoprotein exposed on the surface of the HIV virus

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gp41</span> Subunit of the envelope protein complex of retroviruses

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Env is a viral gene that encodes the protein forming the viral envelope. The expression of the env gene enables retroviruses to target and attach to specific cell types, and to infiltrate the target cell membrane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antibody-dependent enhancement</span> Antibodies rarely making an infection worse instead of better

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<i>GBA2</i> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

GBA2 is the gene that encodes the enzyme non-lysosomal glucosylceramidase in humans. It has glucosylceramidase activity.

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Ten Feizi is a British molecular biologist who is Professor and Director of the Glycosciences Laboratory at Imperial College London. Her research considers the structure and function of glycans. She was awarded the Society for Glycobiology Rosalind Kornfeld award in 2014. She was also awarded the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2021.

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Julie M. Overbaugh is an American virologist. She is a professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Overbaugh is best known for her translational approach to studying HIV transmission and pathogenesis and studies of how the antibody response evolves to recognize viruses. Her work in maternal and infant HIV transmission helped make clear the risk posed by breastfeeding and highlighted unique characteristics of an infant immune response that could inform vaccine development. Major scientific contributions to the understanding of HIV transmission and pathogenesis also include: identifying a bottleneck that selects one or a few variants during HIV transmission; demonstrating the importance of female hormones in HIV infection risk; showing the HIV reinfection is common; demonstrating a role for antibodies that mediate ADCC in clinical disease; showing that HIV infected infants develop unique neutralizing antibody responses to HIV.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sample, Ian (12 July 2020). "Immunity to Covid-19 could be lost in months, UK study suggests". The Guardian.
  2. ↑ Doores, Katie J. (2007). Novel Methods for the Synthesis of Glycoimmunological Probes (PhD). University of Oxford. Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division. OCLC   232193273.
  3. ↑ "The Davis Group - Former Members". The Davis Group. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  4. ↑ "Viral Glycobiology: Chemistry of Infection and Therapeutics". Royal Society of Chemistry. 13 April 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Hitting a Moving Target: AIDS Vaccine Could Work Against Changeable Site on HIV". News & Views. La Jolla, CA: The Scripps Research Institute. 14 (17). 2 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Sok, D.; Doores, K. J.; Briney, B.; Le, K. M.; Saye-Francisco, K. L.; Ramos, A.; Kulp, D. W.; Julien, J.-P.; Menis, S.; Wickramasinghe, L.; Seaman, M. S.; Schief, W. R.; Wilson, I. A.; Poignard, P.; Burton, D. R. (14 May 2014). "Promiscuous Glycan Site Recognition by Antibodies to the High-Mannose Patch of gp120 Broadens Neutralization of HIV". Science Translational Medicine. 6 (236): 236ra63. doi:10.1126/SCITRANSLMED.3008104. PMC   4095976 . PMID   24828077.Wikidata-logo.svg Wikidata ()
  7. ↑ "EMBO welcomes 28 new young investigators". American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 25 October 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "The Doores Lab". King's College London. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  9. ↑ Seow, Jeffrey; Graham, Carl; Merrick, Blair; Acors, Sam; Steel, Kathryn J.A.; Hemmings, Oliver; O'Bryne, Aoife; Kouphou, Neophytos; Pickering, Suzanne; Galao, Rui; Betancor, Gilberto; Wilson, Harry D; Signell, Adrian W; Winstone, Helena; Kerridge, Claire; Temperton, Nigel; Snell, Luke; Bisnauthsing, Karen; Moore, Amelia; Green, Adrian; Martinez, Lauren; Stokes, Brielle; Honey, Johanna; Izquierdo-Barras, Alba; Arbane, Gill; Patel, Amita; OConnell, Lorcan; O Hara, Geraldine; MacMahon, Eithne; Douthwaite, Sam; Nebbia, Gaia; Batra, Rahul; Martinez-Nunez, Rocio; Edgeworth, Jonathan D.; Neil, Stuart J.D.; Malim, Michael H.; Doores, Katie (11 July 2020). "Longitudinal evaluation and decline of antibody responses in SARS-CoV-2 infection". medRxiv   10.1101/2020.07.09.20148429v1 .
  10. ↑ "Covid-19 antibodies can decline over time, research suggests". King's College London. 13 July 2020.
  11. ↑ Newman, Cathy; Doores, Katie (13 July 202). "'Perhaps we're not going to be producing long-term antibody responses that would prevent infection' – Dr Katie Doores, King's College London". Channel 4.
  12. ↑ Ellyatt, Holly (14 July 2020). "Immunity to the coronavirus may last only a few months, UK study finds". CNBC.
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