DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF IMMUNOLOGIC TOOLS IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES

Oregon Health & Science University, Portland OR

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Non-human primates (NHPs), particularly old world monkeys, are essential animal models for a host of human infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, herpes family virus infections, tuberculosis, malaria, influenza, hepatitis A/B, poliovirus, and many Class A bioterrorism agents such as smallpox, monkeypox, yersinia, and hemorrhagic fever viruses. The organization and function of the immune system in these animals closely resembles that of humans, and thus, NHPs provide an invaluable resource for the study of pathogenesis and immunity of these infections, the development of vaccines and other immunotherapeutics to such agents, and just as importantly, investigation of fundamental questions in basic primate immunology that due to ethical or practical constraints are not amenable to study in the human system. Despite this potential, such investigations to date have been severely limited by lack of the necessary tools and expertise to perform and correctly interpret incisive studies of NHP immunobiology. The goal of this program is to develop the physical and informational tools required for comprehensive immunologic testing in NHP models. Accomplishing this goal will require attention to three parallel tracks of investigation: 1) identification, development, and validation of optimized reagents;2) development of optimized protocols for the use of these reagents and paradigms for their interpretation;and 3) application of these reagents, protocols and paradigms to selected animal systems so as to define the fundamental immune physiology of the species in question (normal values, usual kinetics, etc. - information required for planning and interpreting any in vivo experiment or trial).