Human and Mouse Artificial Lymph Nodes: Novel technology to Reduce and Replace the use of animal models in clinical and developmental immunology

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The treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disease has a major impact on the NHS and society and is estimated to cost the UK over 20 billion pounds per year. New treatments are required to treat these debilitating disorders. Currently, the development of novel therapeutics involves using rodent models of the disease and testing in non-human primates before initiating clinical trials in humans. This process utilises large numbers of animals, is expensive and is not necessarily very informative in how a treatment might work in humans. In this proposal in collaborate with a pharmaceutical manufactoring and testing organisation, ProBioGen Ag, we will develop and utilise a new technology we have termed an artificial human lymph nodes to replicate the human immune system in a test tube. This system will allow replacement of animals in the drug development process and reduction in animal numbers required to do basic research into how the immune system develops and functions.