Angela Vincent
Department of Clinical Neurology (Neuroscience Group)
Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine
Headley Way Headington
OX3 9DS Oxford
United Kingdom
Tel : ++44 1865 222321
Fax: ++44 1865 222402
website:www.imm.ox.ac.uk/pages/research/neurosciences/vincent.htm
Dr. Angela Vincent is professor of Neuroimmunology
and honorary consultant in immunology in the department of clinical
neurology at University of Oxford. Qualified in London, and spent 10
years at University College London with Ricardo Miledi FRS studying
acetylcholine receptors. Joined John Newsom-Davis FRS at the Royal Free
Hospital in London and helped to establish a research group into myasthenia
gravis. Moved to Oxford in 1988 and since 1998 has been head of the
Neurosciences Group at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine.
The group investigates autoimmune diseases of the nervous system, by
a combination of molecular biology, immunochemistry, biochemistry, electrophysiology
and immunology.
Scientific Team
Department of Clinical Neurology:
Bethan Lang PhD (University Research Lecturer)
Linda Clover BSc (Research Associate)
Department of Clinical Immunology:
Tracy Newman BSc (Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer)Warren Taylor
MSc (Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer)
Research facilities
The clinical service measures antibodies to ion channels, other neuronal
antigens including onconeural
antigens, and sometimes to pharmaceutical products like interferon-beta.
Techniques available: Cellular immunology (T cell isolation and cloning,
proliferation and cytotoxic assays, FACS analysis), protein analyses
(2D-PAGE, IEF, Western blotting), molecular biology (DNA cloning, sequencing,
PCR, immunoscope), cytokine quantification (ELISA, quantitative PCR),
immunohistochemistry, immunogenetics (SNP's and microsatellites), apoptosis
detection, cDNA phage display, serological antigen selection (SAS).
Instructions for sending
samples are attached.
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Areas of interest
Interest mainly in the role of antibodies in paraneoplastic and non-paraneoplastic
neurological diseases at the neuromuscular junction and central nervous
system. Recent studies include antibodies directed towards ion channels
in the central nervous system in patients with memory loss, epilepsy
and other problems, and new animal models for examining their mechanisms.
Identification of antigenic targets in seronegative MG, and investigation
of the role of antibodies to muscle specific kinase in causing muscle
atrophy. Maternal antibodies in neurodevelopmental disorders such as
autism. Measurement of antibodies to neuronal antigens for the diagnosis
of immune-mediated diseases in clinical neurology.
Selected references
1. Vincent A, Buckley C, Schott JM, et al. Potassium channel antibody-associated
encephalopathy: a potentially immunotherapy-responsive form of limbic
encephalitis. Brain 2004;127:701-12.
2. Monstad SE, Drivsholm L, Storstein A, et al. Hu and Voltage-Gated
Calcium Channel (VGCC) Antibodies Related to the Prognosis of Small-Cell
Lung Cancer. J Clin Oncol 2004;22:795-800.
3. Pozo-Rosich P, Clover L, Saiz A, et al. Voltage-gated potassium channel
antibodies in limbic encephalitis. Ann Neurol 2003;54:530-33.
4. Hart IK, Maddison P, Newsom-Davis J, et al. Phenotypic variants of
autoimmune peripheral nerve hyperexcitability. Brain 2002;125:1887-95.
5. Hoch W, McConville J, Helms S, et al. Auto-antibodies to the receptor
tyrosine kinase MuSK in patients with myasthenia gravis without acetylcholine
receptor antibodies. Nat Med 2001;7:365-68.
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