Award details

African horse sickness: Effector mechanisms of immunity and viral determinants of pathogenicity

Reference	BBS/E/I/00002536
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Javier Castillo-Olivares
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	The Pirbright Institute
Department	The Pirbright Institute Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	65,381
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/02/2016
End date	31/03/2017
Duration	13 months

Abstract

Scope of the research programme and research objectives The aim of this fellowship is to develop a comprehensive research programme in epitope-based vaccinology, immuno-therapeutics and pathogenesis of orbiviral diseases, focusing primarily on African horse sickness virus (AHSV), a highly lethal pathogen of equids that is exotic to most parts of the world except Africa [1]. Knowledge of the effector mechanisms of immunity against AHS is limited and scientific progress slow, due to the logistical, financial, bio-safety and ethical implications of working with a pathogen affecting a large (companion) animal species. I will focus on gaining further understanding of the mechanisms of virus neutralisation by antibodies and analysis of the viral determinants of AHSV pathogenicity. The starting point for these investigations is the recent successes of the research group I lead, involving: a) development of a mouse model for AHSV [2]; b) development of a protective MVA-VP2 vaccine (modified vaccinia Ankara expressing AHSV VP2, the outer capsid protein ) [2-4]; and c) demonstration of the humoral nature of MVA-VP2 induced immunity [5, 6]. The work will be divided in 3 interconnected work-packages: 1. Effector mechanisms of adaptive immunity: Virus Neutralising Antibodies (VNAb) 2. Development of passive immuno-therapeutics 3. Viral determinants of pathogenicity

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Animal Health, Immunology, Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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