Fengyi Wan, Ph.D.

Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, and Oncology
Johns Hopkins University

Abstract

It is widely accepted that breastfeeding offers demonstrable benefits to offspring health, as milk not only gives nourishment to the offspring but also provides it with immune protection.  Of note, complement, which was discovered to enhance or “complement” the antibacterial properties of antibody to clear pathogens in the serum, occurs with substantial abundance in breast milk.  While it has been appreciated for over five decades that complement components are present in breast milk, the pathophysiological relevance and functions of complement in breast milk remain poorly defined.  We recently reveal that complement system in breast milk executes a critical function in protecting offspring from enteric bacterial infection via shaping early-life gut microbiota, in an antibody-independent manner.  The key highlights include weanling mice with complement-deficient milk are susceptible to enteric infection; complement in milk selectively culls certain gram-positive microbes in infant gut; breast milk complement is activated by a C1-dependent, antibody-independent pathway; and early-life gut microbiota regulates neonate susceptibility to enteric infection.  Taken together, breastfeeding offers evident benefits to infant health; our findings demonstrate that complement components in breast milk shape the offspring’s evolving gut commensal microbiota, conferring protection against enteric infection.

Biography

Fengyi Wan, PhD, is a tenured Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, and Oncology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.  He earned his BS Degree at Wuhan University and his PhD Degree at Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.  Following a postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, he joined Johns Hopkins University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor and has been promoted to Associate Professor and Professor with tenure.  His laboratory is studying the host-pathogen-microbiota interactions in bacterially induced infection, inflammation, and tumorigenesis in the gut, and elucidating the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms.