My background is in the molecular biology of human viral pathogens, specifically HIV (tat/TAR interactions, at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge), poliovirus (secondary structure of 5' non-coding RNA in neurovirulence and vaccine attenuation, with Prof Jeff Almond) and coronaviruses, in the pre-SARS era (with Prof Stuart Siddell, then in Wuerzburg, Germany).
I was able to strengthen my developing interest in virus vaccines with a move into the veterinary sector (the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) at Houghton then Compton) to study a complex avian poxvirus vaccine vector. I also made significant contributions to the understanding of economically important emerging pathogens of poultry, specifically:
- a novel retrovirus (Avian leukosis virus subgroup J)
- a birnavirus ('very virulent' Infectious bursal disease virus).
Productive collaborations ensued, particularly with the group of Prof Adrian Hill & Dr Sarah Gilbert (University of Oxford) on the use of Fowlpox virus FP9 as a recombinant vector for malaria vaccination in humans.
In 2005, I moved with my group to the Department of Virology (Faculty of Medicine), at the St Mary's Campus, effectively bringing together human and veterinary aspects of my work.
We recently commenced work on improved recombinant FP9 vaccines against H5N1, to be tested against H5N1 in poultry at the IAH - the results may have implications for the protection of humans against future pandemic influenza strains.
Work on H5N1 has been somewhat compromised by the relative lack of knowledge of avian innate immunity, in particular of the antiviral interferon system. A BBSRC 'Combating Viral Diseases of Livestock' grant allowed me to address this issue together with Prof Steve Goodbourn (St George's, University of London), developing new reagents and assays to apply to the study of the peculiarities of the avian system and to the way avian viruses evade their hosts' innate immunity.
I am still very interested in the basic molecular biology of viruses. Current topics of interest include the proteins that Fowlpox virus uses to evade chicken type I interferon (identified through the BBSRC-funded avian interferon project) and the role of nuclear-shuttling proteins of poxviruses, which replicate exclusively in the cytoplasm.
Atishoo! Atishoo! We all fall down!
Mike Skinner & Sulzhan Bali
29 Oct 2008; Science Oxford.
Pandemic flu and the end of the human race? When bird flu finds a human host, the death rate is higher than in the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic (which killed nearly 40 million people).
- Webster, D. P., Dunachie, S., Vuola, J. M., Berthoud, T., Keating, S., Laidlaw, S. M., McConkey, S. J., Poulton, I., Andrews, L., Andersen, R. F., Bejon, P., Butcher, G., Sinden, R., Skinner, M. A., Gilbert, S. C. & Hill, A. V. (2005). Enhanced T cell-mediated protection against malaria in human challenges by using the recombinant poxviruses FP9 and modified vaccinia virus Ankara. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.
- Skinner, M. A., Laidlaw, S. M., Eldaghayes, I., Kaiser, P. & Cottingham, M. G. (2005). Fowlpox virus as a recombinant vaccine vector for use in mammals and poultry. Expert Rev Vaccines 4, 63-76.
- Moorthy, V. S., Imoukhuede, E. B., Keating, S., Pinder, M., Webster, D., Skinner, M. A., Gilbert, S. C., Walraven, G. & Hill, A. V. (2004). Phase 1 evaluation of 3 highly immunogenic prime-boost regimens, including a 12-month reboosting vaccination, for malaria vaccination in Gambian men. J Infect Dis 189, 2213-2219.
- Laidlaw, S. M. & Skinner, M. A. (2004). Comparison of the genome sequence of FP9, an attenuated, tissue culture-adapted European strain of Fowlpox virus, with those of virulent American and European viruses. J Gen Virol 85, 305-322.
- Afonso, C. L., Tulman, E. R., Lu, Z., Zsak, L., Kutish, G. F. & Rock, D. L. (2000). The genome of fowlpox virus. J Virol 74, 3815-3831.
