AniMAb: Establishing a monoclonal antibody platform to interrogate animal antibody responses to inform rational design of veterinary vaccines

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Many animal [and human] infections are difficult to control through vaccination because they are caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites that are able to out-run the immune system by constantly mutating. All-too-often, the antibody and killer cells that the body makes to fight off infection target these mutating regions of the microbe. However, we suspect that microbes also possess much more conserved regions that could be targeted by vaccines, and therefore if we could identify these conserved regions we would be able to make a vaccine that would work against lots of different strains. In this project, we will develop a system that will allow us to isolate monoclonal antibodies from animals, in the first instance cows. Having this technology will allow us to dissect out the antibody response that cows make to vaccines or to natural infection. We can then screen these antibodies to find those that are able to recognise and kill different strains of a microbe, e.g. a virus. We can then work out what part of the microbe these antibodies target and use this information to make better vaccines. Importantly, we can expand this technology to inform vaccine design for all species of animals.