Vaccines

Immunology & Vaccine Research

Our immunology laboratory provides support to both government and commercial clients in preclinical development of vaccine and therapeutics. We have the ability to perform immunological assays both in vitro and in vivo to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of biological agents or anti-viral compounds on the immune system. One of our strengths is the ability to perform immunogenicty studies with vaccines, adjuvants, cytokines, etc. in various animal model systems including non-human primates and mice, in addition to providing detailed analysis of vaccine-induced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.

Examples of our current capabilities in Vaccine Research include:

• Immunophenotyping by flow cytometry
• Assessment of immune activation markers
• T-lymphocyte proliferation assays
• Mitogen stimulation
• Antibody detection by ELISA and Western Blots
• Immunogenicity studies and detailed monitoring of vaccine-induced immune responses
• Fine analysis of antibody responses using synthetic peptides to identify linear immunogenic B-cell epitopes
• CD4+ T-helper responses and mapping T-cell epitopes
• Detecting Th1 and Th2 cytokine profiles in T-lymphocytes subsets by intracellular flow cytometry, ELISPOT and multiplexing techniques
• State-of-the-art tetramer technology using MHC/peptide tetrameric complexes to directly measure CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL)
• Studies on Apoptosis
• Assays to detect early signal events during T-cell activation, e.g. Calcium Mobilization Assays
• Antigen presentation assays using dendritic cells

Web Resources:

• http://www.biotech.ufl.edu/FlowCytometry/
• http://hiv-web.lanl.gov/content/immunology/
• http://hiv-web.lanl.gov/content/vaccine/html/index.html
• http://research.bidmc.harvard.edu/v_path/primate_lab_aids.asp

Anti-Infective Vaccine Research and Development

The goal of our preclinical antiviral vaccine development program remains the expeditious, but intensive, evaluation of the efficacy and toxicity, range and mechanism of action of your compound. Our scientists will design a cost-effective strategy to speed the development of your vaccine. Our state of the art BSL-2 or BSL-3 animal research facilities are available for efficacy and safety testing of your product.

Support for our antiviral vaccine evaluations program has been obtained from both government and commercial contracts and grants. We currently provide technical support to the U.S. government on the following contracts:

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

• Master Agreement for HIV Preclinical Vaccine Development
• Simian Vaccine Evaluation Units

Department of Defense

• Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program (JVAP)

In order to remain abreast of the rapid developments in the field of antiviral vaccine development, the Infectious Disease Research Department staff maintains professional memberships in a variety of societies, including The American Association for the Advancement of Science, The American Society of Microbiology, The International Society For Antiviral Research and the Drug Information Association, and routinely attends scientific meetings relevant to the discovery and development of vaccines.