Formulation and delivery of immunostimulatory oligodeoxynucleotides containing CpG motifs (CpG-ODN) with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) against poultry diseases.

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It is generally accepted that it is better to prevent disease than to treat it. This has become especially important due to a number of food safety and human health issues. An increasing emergence of diseases in animals has focused attention on immune based methods of disease protection. Vaccines are a well known method to direct the immune system for improved disease protection, but they are not available for some diseases and are not effective when an immediate protective effect is required, e.g., in the face of an disease outbreak. Therefore, alternate strategies to induce protective immunity are required. The "first responder" or innate component of the immune system detects infection by recognizing features characteristic of infectious organisms as "danger" signals. This quickly triggers a response capable of limiting a variety of infections (unlike vaccines which protect only against the disease for which they were developed). One of these danger signals is a pattern characteristic of bacterial DNA, known as CpG motifs. This pattern can be synthesized in small pieces of DNA known as oligonucleotides (ODN), which are suitable for administration to animals. The proposed research program will determine if CpG-ODN formulated with carbon nanotubes (CNT) will enhance the immunoprotection against common bacterial and viral diseases of chickens. We will administer CpG ODN formulated with CNTs to chicks while still in the egg, thus avoiding the complicating effects of other environmental stimuli on the immune system. We will also deliver CpG-ODN-CNT formulations by the oral and nasal routes of neonatal chickens to stimulate the innate immune system of chickens. We will look for evidence of activation of innate immunity, such as the turning on genes important for immune response coordination, and functions such as production of antiviral activity. Previously, we have demonstrated a significant protective effect of CpG-ODN against lethal bacterial infections in neonatal and adult chickens, and proposed research program will explore immunostimulatory effect of CpG-ODN-CNT formulations against common bacterial and viral infections in chickens.