Nano-Beads Adjuvant for Theileria parva Vaccine

Jean-Pierre Scheerlinck of the University of Melbourne in Australia will develop an effective vaccine against the parasite Theileria parva, which causes East Coast Fever in cattle, by conjugating parasite lysates to nanobeads, which act as an adjuvant to induce a strong immune response. Upon infection, the parasite enters cells of the immune system making classical vaccination strategies that induce antibody responses ineffective. Protecting these animals against infection instead requires a cytotoxic T cell immune response. Nanobeads are inexpensive, inert, 40nm diameter beads that, when covered with antigens, can induce a cytotoxic T cell response in humans. Scheerlinck will generate parasite lysates from infected lymphocytes grown in the laboratory as a source of antigens, conjugate it covalently to nanobeads, and inject them into cattle to test for a robust cytotoxic T cell response and protection against Theileria parva infection.