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Hallmark of the year was the official opening of the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, KCCR, a joint venture of the Bernhard Nocht Institute and the School of Medical Sciences of the University of Kumasi, Ghana. Details on the establishment of the Unit, the opening ceremony and research activities at KCCR are delineated in the Director’s Report and commented upon by the Unit Head, respectively (see below).
In Hamburg, the Department of Pathology continued its successful and internationally respected work on virus and cell dynamics in HIV infection. In order to improve the analysis and quantification of histomorphological data, a computer-assisted method was developed in collaboration with Zeiss company. The intimate engagement of the Department in a highly productive, international scientific network again resulted in impressive data. Part of the work was honoured by the prestigious "AIDS-Forschungspreis der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Infektiologie" being awarded to Klara Tenner-Racz and Paul Racz. Furthermore, the Department succeeded in maintaining its high level of diagnostic skills as a reference centre for the histopathology of tropical and exotic diseases.
Research activities of the Department of Clinical Chemistry like before concentrated on the analysis of the allergic type of immune response in both worm infection and atopy. Projects addressed the diagnostic value of eosinophil toxins as indicators of disease activity as well as pathogenic and immunoregulatory activities of the tissue nematode Onchocerca volvulus. The latter studies are part of the Institute Programme on "Molecular and Cellular Interactions between Parasite and Host in Onchocerciasis" and as such are summarized separately in this issue by the Programme Coordinator.
The Department of Molecular Medicine completed its first genome-wide linkage analysis to identify host genes relevant to a parasitic disease: Evidence was obtained for two loci influencing susceptibility and resistance to human Schistosoma mansoni infections. A veterinary counterpart, a collaborative study on cattle trypanosomiasis, requires substantial efforts to improve genetic and physical maps of the bovine genome. Last year´s finding of a connexin-26 mutation being the cause for hearing impairment among inhabitants of the "deaf village" in Ghana was extended by an epidemiological study among deaf children in all parts of the country. Taken together, research of the Department at present addresses the major aspects of molecular medicine ranging from theoretical considerations of genetic epidemiology to practical issues in fine mapping and positional cloning.
Rolf Horstmann
| Scientific Staff
Prof. Dr. Rolf D. Horstmann
Prof. Dr. Paul Racz
Privatdozent Dr. Frank W. Tischendorf
Dr. Christoph Hamelmann
Dr. Norbert Brattig
Visiting Scientists, Department of Pathology and
Prof. Ralph M. Steinman,
Technical Staff Birgit Förster
Doctoral / Graduate Students Ruth Abraha
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Genomewide combined linkage and segregation analysis of susceptibility
to schistosomiasis mansoni applying a recently developed method which assumes
oligogenic inheritance. Data are presented chromosome by chromosome in
the numerical order. Green: Scores obtained using as parameters
the counts of excreted Schistosoma mansoni eggs. The highest peak
corresponded to a score of 350. Red: Scores obtained using as parameters
sCAA, the serum concentrations of a circulating adult worm antigen of S.
mansoni. The overall scores were nearly 20 times higher than those
obtained with egg counts, with the highest peak corresponding to a score
of 6600. Grey: Numbers of individuals genotyped at the various marker
positions (maximum number, 248). Thirty-four individuals of two large pedigrees
were tested initially, and additional families were included in chromosomal
regions where evidence for linkage was obtained (P<0.15). Phenotypes
used were the residuals of the parameters after correction for sex and
age.
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