Jiri Mestecky, M.D., Ph.D.
By Catherine Hamrick
Jiri Mestecky helped define the key role of immunoglobulin A in immune response, which has impacted the treatment of many diseases—particularly the progress toward an HIV vaccine.
Hear Mestecky describe his journey from Prague to Birmingham:
Many UAB researchers have earned international acclaim for their work, but Jiri Mestecky, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the departments of Microbiology and Medicine, is considered a local hero in the Czech Republic. Last year, in fact, he received one of his home country’s highest scientific honors, the Czech Mind prize.
“I won the award for Czechs who have made scientific contributions abroad,” says Mestecky—and in his case, the contributions are immense. A renowned expert in mucosal immunology, Mestecky is considered a pioneer in the field; in 1971, he published a breakthrough study on the characteristics of the immunoglobulin A (IgA) protein. His findings helped convince many scientists to investigate the immune-response roles of proteins and other molecules in bodily secretions. Since then, Mestecky and his UAB lab have made discoveries that shed new light on diseases ranging from kidney failure to HIV infection.
Mucosal Gateways
“Our contact with the environment is mediated through mucosal surfaces,” Mestecky says. “We encounter some 90 percent of all infections—and diseases with the highest rates of mortality and morbidity—through those surfaces, such as the cavity of the lungs or the genital tract.” The intestinal tract is another key entry point, particularly for HIV, and Mestecky encourages researchers and clinicians to pay closer attention to the changes that take place there. “HIV compromises that system first of all,” he says. “No matter the route of infection, the earliest and most profound changes occur in the intestinal tract with the disappearance of certain cells necessary for protective function.”
Mestecky and his colleagues focus on the “specific immune factors” within antibodies that condition them to fight particular diseases—and they continue to study IgA, a type of antibody that humans produce in “tremendous amounts,” he says. Because IgA is the main antibody in the intestinal tract and is prevalent in the genital tract, it could play a crucial support role in the development of HIV vaccines. “It is clear now that we need to generate specific antibodies at those locations to prevent virus penetration in the body,” Mestecky explains. However, the approach is not perfect: “The injection of the antigen doesn’t always protect the mucosal surfaces and doesn’t always restrict the penetration of viruses in the intestinal environment,” he says.
Parting the Iron Curtain
IgA, HIV, and UAB weren’t on the radar when Mestecky was a medical student in Czechoslovakia in the early 1960s. “I wanted to be a microbiologist. I thought I would be working on antibiotics.” Then he met a famous immunologist at the Academy of Sciences in Prague who inspired the young scientist. “Immunology became my life,” Mestecky says.
Though the Soviet Union dominated Eastern Europe, Mestecky obtained permission to study in the United States for two years as part of a World Health Organization initiative. He joined UAB’s faculty in 1967, and when Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia the following year, Mestecky stayed in America, where he met his wife and became a citizen. However, Mestecky did not lose all ties with his native country. He was able to return several times over the years to visit his family, and he worked with Czech colleagues when they came to the United States to conduct research. The 1989 Velvet Revolution removed all travel restrictions, and today Mestecky collaborates with researchers at two universities in the Czech Republic.
More than four decades after arriving in Alabama, Mestecky says that UAB continues to serve as a magnet for immunology investigators from around the world. “We have a strong program here with many outstanding researchers,” he says. “We’ve had visiting scientists from 30 to 40 countries. Lots of people at conferences want to come here.”