Mandi De Mestre
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Mandi is a lecturer in Veterinary Basic Sciences. Mandi’s research focuses particularly on the immunobiology of the maternal-fetal interface, with a particular interest in pregnancy-related conditions in the mare.
Biography
Mandi graduated from the University of Sydney in 1998 with a First Class Bachelor of Veterinary Science. Her interest in research begun as a veterinary student during which time she spent two summers in the U.S.A in the laboratories of Professor Douglas Antczak (Cornell University) and Dr. Craig Altier (North Carolina State University) working on projects in the fields of equine genomics and infectious diseases. Following graduation, she worked as a veterinarian in equine specialist practice in Scone, Australia. She also spent a breeding season working in Newmarket, United Kingdom. During this period, Mandi’s clinical interests in equine neonatology and reproduction developed.
In 2001, Mandi started a PhD in Medical Sciences at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR Website), Australian National University, whilst continuing work part-time as an equine veterinarian. In 2005, she submitted her doctoral thesis in the field of immunology entitled “Regulation of heparanase expression in T lymphocytes and tumour cells”, for which she was the recipient of the 2006 Frank Fenner Medal and Dewar Milne Prize in Immunology awarded by the JCSMR. In 2005, Mandi returned to Cornell as a Post-doctoral research associate in the laboratory of Professor Douglas Antczak working on differentiation of placental trophoblast cells and regulation of immunity during pregnancy in the horse. Mandi joined the Royal Veterinary College as a Lecturer in the Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences in 2007. Her current research interests combine her clinical training in reproduction and neonatology with her scientific background in the field of placental function and immunology.
Research
The overall goal of Mandi’s research program is to identify key mechanisms that permit normal growth and survival of the fetus. Her current research focuses on two aspects of pregnancy; firstly the role played by the placenta in modulating immunity to the semi-allogeneic fetus, and secondly the identification of genes that regulate trophoblast differentiation in the horse. Her studies, which are primarily in the horse, address fundamental questions that aim to result in the development of novel therapies to treat conditions of equine pregnancy and infertility (e.g. abortion), as well as human pregnancy loss that arises due to immunological dysfunction.
Currently Mandi’s funded research projects fall into three areas; i) The role of trophoblast cells in regulating immunological tolerance (RVC studentship & Central Research Fund Grant), ii) Identification of key molecules that regulate placental function (internal Grant Scheme), and iii) Characterization of regulatory T cells in the horse and their role in chronic disease (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Trust Grant, in collaboration with Dr. Bettina Wagner, Cornell University & Imogen Johns, VCS). In collaboration with Prof. Doug Antczak, Cornell, and Dr. Dave Hanlon, New Zealand, she is also exploring the application of trophoblast cells as a form of cellular therapy to treat chronic abortion and behavioural disorders in mares.
Teaching
Mandi has a strong interest in teaching veterinary students and mentoring them in research. Mandi is currently the strand leader for the BVetMed “Principles of Science” strand that runs throughout years 1 to 4, and sits on the BVetMed course management sub-committee. In this role, she is involved in developing the new BVetMed curriculum for the principles of science strand. She teaches reproduction to 1st, 2nd and 5th year BVetMed students within the “Reproduction” strand and the equine stud medicine elective, and contributes to the “Comparative Reproduction” module on the Gateway course. She also supervises undergraduate students on the BSc Bioveterinary Science and BVetMed course who choose to carry out projects in her laboratory.
Selected Publications
DE MESTRE, A. M., MILLER, D., ROBERSON, M. S., LIFORD, J., CHIZMAR, L. C., MCLAUGHLIN, K. E. & ANTCZAK, D. F. (2008) Glial Cells Missing 1 Is Induced in Differentiating Equine Chorionic Girdle Trophoblast Cells. Biol Reprod, in press
DE MESTRE, A. M., NORONHA, L. E., WAGNER, B. & ANTCZAK, D. F. (2008) Split Immunological Tolerance to Trophoblast. Int. J. Dev. Biol. in press
DE MESTRE, A. M., BACON, S. J., COSTA, C. C., LEADBEATER, J. C., NORONHA, L. E., STEWART, F. & ANTCZAK, D. F. (2008) Modeling trophoblast differentiation using equine chorionic girdle vesicles. Placenta 29, 158-169. PubMed ID 18054076
DE MESTRE, A. M., STAYKOVA, M. A., HORNBY, J. R., WILLENBORG, D. O. & HULETT, M. D. (2007) Expression of the heparan sulfate-degrading enzyme heparanase is induced in infiltrating CD4+ T cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and regulated at the level of transcription by early growth response gene 1. J Leukoc Biol 82, 1289-1300. PubMed ID 17656651
DE MESTRE, A. M., SOE-HTWE, T., SUTCLIFFE, E. L., RAO, S., PAGLER, E. B., HORNBY, J. R. & HULETT, M. D. (2007) Regulation of mouse Heparanase gene expression in T lymphocytes and tumor cells. Immunol Cell Biol 85, 205-214. PubMed ID 17213834
DE MESTRE, A. M., RAO, S., HORNBY, J. R., SOE-HTWE, T., KHACHIGIAN, L. M. & HULETT, M. D. (2005) Early growth response gene 1 (EGR1) regulates heparanase gene transcription in tumor cells. J Biol Chem 280, 35136-35147. PubMed ID 16093249
DE MESTRE, A. M., KHACHIGIAN, L. M., SANTIAGO, F. S., STAYKOVA, M. A. & HULETT, M. D. (2003) Regulation of inducible heparanase gene transcription in activated T cells by early growth response 1. J Biol Chem 278, 50377-50385. PubMed ID 14522979
MURPHIE, A. M.*, HOPMAN, T. J., SCHUG, M. D., AQUADRO, C. F., BOWLING, A. T., MURRAY, J. D., CAETANO, A. R. & ANTCZAK, D. F. (1999) Equine dinucleotide repeat loci COR021-COR040. Anim Genet 30, 235-237. PubMed ID 10443004
*Maiden name