THE UNDERSTANDING OF IMMUNE RESPONSES OF THE HORSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH, VACCINE DEVELOPMENT, AND TESTING NEW TREATMENTS FOR ACUTE AND CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASES. IMMUNOLOGICAL RESEARCH REQUIRES SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES, TYPICALLY MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES (MABS).MABS TO MORE THAN 250 DIFFERENT CELL SURFACE MARKERS AND OVER 60 CYTOKINES/CHEMOKINES ARE AVAILABLE FOR HUMANS OR MICE. FOR HORSES, THE NUMBER OF AVAILABLE MABS TO IMMUNE SYSTEM MOLECULES HAS GROWN IN RECENT YEARS DUE TO NIFA-FUNDED REAGENT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FROM ABOUT 30 TO PRESENTLY >60 MABS. HOWEVER, MANY IMMUNE REAGENTS FOR HORSES ARE STILL LACKING. THE HYPOTHESIS OF THIS PROPOSAL IS THAT NEW MABS WILL IMPROVE THE EVALUATION OF HOST IMMUNITY DURING INFECTIOUS AND INFLAMMATORY DISEASES OF THE HORSE. THE PROJECT PRECEDING THIS RENEWAL PROPOSAL FOCUSED ON MABS TO SOLUBLE IMMUNE MARKERS SUCH AS CYTOKINES/CHEMOKINES.
$500,000FY2019National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA
Cornell University, Ithaca NY