The University of Sheffield
Department of Infection and Immunity

Prof Moira Whyte BSc PhD FRCP (London) FMedSci

Professor of Respiratory Medicine
Head, Department of Infection and Immunity
Head, Academic Unit of Respiratory MedicinePicture of Professor Moira Whyte

Address
Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine
Department of Infection and Immunity
K Floor
The University of Sheffield Medical School
Beech Hill Road
Sheffield
S10 2RX

Tel: +44 (0)114 271 2355
Fax: +44 (0)114 271 3892
Email: m.k.whyte@sheffield.ac.uk
Secretary - Beverley Jepson
 Tel: +44 (0)114 271 2830
Email: b.jepson@sheffield.ac.uk

Biography

I am a respiratory physician who trained mainly in London (St Bartholomew´s Hospital Medical College, Hammersmith Hospital, Royal Postgraduate Medical School and Imperial Cancer Research Fund). After MRC and then Wellcome Clinical Fellowships, I moved to Sheffield in 1996 as Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Honorary Consultant in Respiratory and General Medicine.

Research Interests

My research interests have focussed on molecular mechanisms of innate immune cell apoptosis in the context both of chronic inflammatory lung disease and of host defence against bacterial infection. These are areas of major therapeutic challenge with no effective therapies for persistent neutrophilic inflammation and with strategies to manipulate host immune responses to pathogens having exciting potential for treatment of antibiotic-resistance infection. I collaborate with other members of the Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine (Professor Ian Sabroe, Dr Stephen Renshaw, Dr Sarah Walmsley, D Lynne Prince), with Professor David Dockrell, a key colleague in Infectious Diseases, and with Professor Simon Foster in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. My other role is as the Joint Acting Director of the MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics, which is pioneering the use of non-mammalian disease models, in particular of zebrafish and fruit flies, to understand the pathogenesis of human disease.

Professional Activities

Key Publications

  1. Usher LR, Lawson RA, Geary I, Taylor CJ, Bingle CD, Taylor GW and Whyte MKB. 2002. Induction of neutrophil apoptosis by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin pyocyanin: a potential mechanism of persistent infection. Journal of Immunology 168:1861-1868.
  2. Ng Man Kwong G, Das C, Proctor AR, Whyte MKB, Primhak RA. 2002. Diagnostic and treatment behaviour in children with chronic respiratory symptoms: relationship with socio-economic factors. Thorax 57:701-704.
  3. Sabroe I, Jones EC, Usher LR, Whyte MKB, Dower SK. 2002. Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 and TLR4 in human peripheral blood granulocytes: A critical role for monocytes in leukocyte lipopolysaccharide responses. Journal of Immunology 168:4701-4710.
  4. Rowe SJ, Allen L, Ridger VC, Hellewell PG and Whyte MKB. 2002.
    Caspase-1 deficient mice have delayed neutrophil apoptosis and a prolonged inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide induced acute lung injury. Journal of Immunology 169:6401-6407.
  5. Renshaw SA, Parmar JS, Singleton V, Rowe SJ, Dockrell DH, Dower SK, Bingle CD, Chilvers ER and Whyte MKB. 2003. Acceleration of human neutrophil apoptosis by tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). Journal of Immunology 170:1027-1033.
  6. Sabroe I, Prince LR, Jones EC, Horsburgh MJ, Foster SJ, Vogel SN, Dower SK and Whyte MKB. 2003. Selective roles for TLR2 and TLR4 in the regulation of neutrophil activation and lifespan. Journal of Immunology 170:5268-5275.
  7. King AR, Francis SE, Bridgeman CJ, Whyte MKB and Crossman DC. 2003. A role for caspase-1 in serum withdrawal induced endothelial cell death. Laboratory Investigation 83:1497-1508.
  8. Kotecha S, Mildner RJ, Prince LR, Vyas JR, Currie AE, Lawson RA and Whyte MKB. 2003. The role of neutrophil apoptosis in the resolution of acute lung injury in newborn infants. Thorax 58:961-967.
  9. Dockrell DH, Marriott HM, Prince LR, Ridger VC, Ince PG, Hellewell PG and Whyte MKB. 2003. Alveolar macrophage apoptosis contributes to pneumococcal clearance in a resolving model of pulmonary infection. Journal of Immunology 171:5380-5388.
  10. Renshaw SA, Dempsey CE, Barnes FA, Bagstaff SM, Dower SK, Bingle CD and Whyte MKB. 2004. Three novel bid proteins generated by alternative splicing of the human bid gene. Journal of Biological Chemistry 279:2846-2855.
  11. Parker LC, Whyte MKB, Vogel SN, Dower SK and Sabroe I. 2004. Toll-like receptor 2 and 4 agonists regulate C-C chemokine receptor expression in monocytes. Journal of Immunology 172:4977-4986.
  12. Marriott HM, Ali F, Read RC, Mitchell TJ, Whyte MKB and Dockrell DH. 2004. Nitric oxide levels regulate macrophage commitment to apoptosis or necrosis during pneumococcal infection. FASEB Journal 18:1126-1128.
  13. Prince LR, Allen L, Jones EC, Hellewell PG, Dower SK, Whyte MKB and Sabroe I. 2004. The role of IL-1β in direct and toll-like receptor 4-mediated neutrophil activation and survival. American Journal of Pathology 165:1819-1826.
  14. Munthe-Kaas MC, Carlsen KH, Helms PJ, Gerritsen J, Whyte M, Feijen M, Skinningsrud B, Main M, Kwong GN, Lie BA, Lodrup Carlsen KC, Undlien DE. 2004. CTLA-4 polymorphisms in allergy and asthma and the TH1/ TH2 paradigm. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 114:280-287.
  15. Sabroe I, Jones EC, Whyte MKB and Dower SK. 2005. Regulation of human neutrophil chemokine receptor expression and function by activation of Toll-like receptors (TLR)2 and TLR4. Immunology 115:90-98.
  16. Marriott HM, Bingle CD, Read RC, Braley KE, Kroemer G, Hellewell PG, Craig RW, Whyte MKB and Dockrell DH. 2005. Dynamic Changes in Mcl-1 Expression Regulate Macrophage Viability or Commitment to Apoptosis during Bacterial Clearance. Journal of Clinical Investigation 115:359-368.
  17. Morris GE, Whyte MKB, Martin GF, Jose PJ, Dower SK and Sabroe I. 2005. Agonists of Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 activate airway smooth muscle via mononuclear leukocytes. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 171:814-822.
  18. Allen L, Dockrell DH, Pattery T, Lee DG, Cornelis P, Hellewell PG and Whyte MKB. 2005. Pyocyanin production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa induces neutrophil apoptosis and impairs neutrophil-mediated host defenses in vivo. Journal of Immunology 174:3643-3649.
  19. Dempsey CE, Dive C, Fletcher DJ, Barnes FA, Lobo A, Bingle CD, Whyte MKB and Renshaw SA. 2005. Expression of pro-apoptotic Bfk isoforms reduces during malignant transformation in the human gastrointestinal tract. FEBS Letters 579:3646-3650.
  20. Parker LC, Jones EC, Prince LR, Dower SK, Whyte MKB and Sabroe I. 2005. Endotoxin tolerance induces selective alterations in neutrophil function. Journal of Leukocyte Biology (Rapid Communication) 78:1301-1305.
  21. Walmsley SR, Cowburn AS, Clatworthy MR, Morrell NW, Roper EC, Singleton V, Maxwell P, Whyte MKB, Chilvers ER. 2006. Neutrophils from patients with heterozygous germline mutations in the von Hippel Lindau protein (VHL) display delayed apoptosis and enhanced bacterial phagocytosis. Blood 108:3176-3178.
  22. Morris GE, Parker LC, Ward JR, Jones EC, Whyte MKB, Brightling CE, Bradding P, Dower SK, Sabroe I. 2006. Cooperative molecular and cellular networks regulate Toll-like receptor-dependent inflammatory responses. FASEB Journal 20:2153-2155.
  23. Marriott HM, Hellewell PG, Cross SS, Ince PG, Whyte MKB, Dockrell DH. 2006. Decreased alveolar macrophage apoptosis is associated with increased pulmonary inflammation in a murine model of pneumococcal pneumonia. Journal of Immunology 177:6480-6488.
  24. Renshaw SA, Loynes CA, Trushell DM, Elworthy S, Ingham PW, Whyte MKB. 2006. A transgenic zebrafish model of neutrophilic inflammation. Blood 108:3976-3978.
  25. Kosta K, Sabroe I, Goke J, Nibbs RJ, Tsanakas J, Whyte MKB, Teare MD. 2007. A bayesian approach to copy-number-polymorphism analysis in nuclear pedigrees. American Journal of Human Genetics 81:808-812.
  26. Vaughan KR, Stokes L, Prince LR, Meis S, Kassack MU, Bingle CD, Sabroe I, Surprenant A, Whyte MKB. 2007. Inhibition of neutrophil apoptosis by ATP is mediated by the P2Y11 receptor. Journal of Immunology 179:8544-8553.
  27. Marriott HM, Jackson LE, Wilkinson TS, Simpson AJ, Mitchell TJ, Buttle DJ, Cross SS, Ince PG, Hellewell PG, Whyte MKB, Dockrell DH. 2008. Reactive oxygen species regulate neutrophil recruitment and survival in pneumococcal pneumonia. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 177:887-895.
  28. Bianchi SM, Prince LR, McPhillips K, Allen L, Marriott HM, Taylor GW, Hellewell PG, Sabroe I, Dockrell DH, Henson PM, Whyte MKB. 2008. Impairment of apoptotic cell engulfment by pyocyanin, a toxic metabolite of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 177:35-43.
  29. Prince LR, Bianchi SM, Vaughan KM, Bewley MA, Marriott HM, Walmsley SR, Taylor GW, Buttle DJ, Sabroe I, Dockrell DH, Whyte MKB. 2008. Subversion of a lysosomal pathway regulating neutrophil apoptosis by a major bacterial toxin, pyocyanin. Journal of Immunology 180:3502-3511.
  30. Dick EP, Prince LR, Prestwich EC, Renshaw SA, Whyte MKB, Sabroe I. 2009. Pathways regulating lipopolysaccharide-induced neutrophil survival revealed by lentiviral transduction of primary human neutrophils. Immunology 127:249-255.

Review Articles

  1. Sabroe I, Parker LC, Dockrell DH, Davies DE, Dower SK, Whyte MKB. 2007. Pulmonary Perspective: targeting the networks that underpin contiguous immunity in asthma and COPD. American Journal of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine 175:306-311.
  2. Sabroe I, Dockrell DH, Vogel SN, Renshaw SA, Whyte MKB, Dower SK. 2007. Identifying and hurdling obstacles to translational research. Nature Reviews Immunology 7:77-82
  3. Sabroe I, Whyte MKB. 2007. Incapacitating the immune system in cystic fibrosis (News and Views). Nature Medicine 13:1417-1418.