PIGS ARE A MAJOR FOOD ANIMAL SPECIES IN THE US AND GLOBALLY. LOSSES CAUSED BY INFECTIOUS DISEASES [E.G., PORCINE REPRODUCTIVE AND RESPIRATORY SYNDROME, SWINE INFLUENZA AND PORCINE EPIDEMIC DIARRHEA] DEMONSTRATE THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE VACCINES, BIOTHERAPEUTICS AND NUTRITIONAL INTERVENTIONS. THE PIG IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT BIOMEDICAL MODEL FOR DEVELOPMENT, OBESITY, CARDIOVASCULAR, TRANSPLANTATION, AND VACCINE RESEARCH. CURRENT RESEARCH EFFORTS REQUIRE A BROAD RANGE OF IMMUNE REAGENTS, BUT THOSE AVAILABLE FOR PIGS ARE LIMITED. OUR GOAL IS TO GENERATE THESE PRIORITY REAGENTS AND PIPELINE THEM FOR MARKETING. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL PRIORITIZE RESEARCH TARGETS BASED ON INTERNATIONAL INPUT FROM RESEARCHERS. NEWLY IDENTIFIED IMMUNE PATHWAYS, UPDATED LISTING OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE REAGENTS, AND OPEN COMMUNICATION WITH PEERS WILL DETERMINE TARGETS AND AVOID DUPLICATION. BASED ON OUR RESEARCH EXPERTISE, AND THE EXPERIENCE GAINED FROM THE PAST SWINE TOOLKIT EFFORTS, THE TEAM HAS IDENTIFIED BEST IMMUNIZATION AND SCREENING STRATEGIES, DEVELOPED PLANS TO COLLABORATE WITH COMMERCIAL PARTNERS FOR PROTEIN EXPRESSION AND MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY (MAB) PRODUCTION, AND UPDATED PROTOCOLS TO EFFICIENTLY EVALUATE SPECIFICITY AND UTILITY OF REAGENTS. OUR SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE: 1) CLONE AND EXPRESS IMPORTANT SWINE IMMUNE MOLECULES; 2) PREPARE PANELS OF MABS REACTIVE WITH THE SWINE IMMUNE TARGETS AND SLA CLASS I TETRAMERS; 3) USE REAGENTS PRODUCED TO DEVELOP NEW ASSAYS FOR SWINE IMMUNE MARKERS; AND 4) PROVIDE THE VETERINARY COMMUNITY WITH NEW COMMERCIAL REAGENTS AND UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION AND TECHNIQUES FOR THEIR RESEARCH EFFORTS. TOOLS AND REAGENTS GENERATED BY THIS PROJECT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY ADVANCE SWINE AND BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH EFFORTS SUBSTANTIALLY.