Investigation of the immunological properties of a novel adjuvant in sheep.

诱导无副作用的强免疫反应是疫苗研发的一个非常理想的目标。最近开发的辅助DCtag利用树突状细胞的独特特性来促进细胞和体液免疫反应而不损伤组织。本项目将利用绵羊插管模型的独特特性，确定DCtag免疫诱导的机制。这将进一步优化dtag在绵羊中的佐剂性，然后将其应用于提供基于原型肽的口蹄疫病毒疫苗，这是一种具有全球重要性的兽医疾病，从而提高澳大利亚在生物技术方面的领导地位。

The induction of strong immune responses without side effects is a highly desirable goal in vaccine R&D. The recently developed adjuvant DCtag utilises unique properties of dendritic cells to boost both cellular and humoral immune responses without tissue damage. This project will identify the mechanisms of immune induction of DCtag using unique properties of our sheep cannulation model. This will allow further optimisation of DCtag adjuvanticity in sheep, which will then be applied to the delivery of a prototype peptide based vaccine against foot and mouth disease virus, a veterinary disease of global importance, hereby increasing Australia's leadership in biotechnology.