Reagents and Techniques for Vaccine Development and Immune Response Assessment in California Sea Lions

摘要

The aims of this project were to establish reagents and techniques for (a) the advanced assessment of pathogen-specific immune responsiveness, and (b) the immunogenetic characterization of California sea lions. Monoclonal antibodies specific for sea lion antibody isotypes were developed and characterized; they can now be used to measure antibody responses to vaccines. Cytokine genes were sequenced and this data can now be used to develop quantitative assays for measuring cytokine-specific immune responses to vaccines; cytokines are inducible soluble messengers of the immune response. The major histocompatability complex (MHC) class I and II genes were cloned and sequenced. Polymoprhism was identified in the functionally important MHC class II DRB genes. This polymorphism is an indirect measure of the immunologic vigor of a population. Geographical differences in MHC class II DRB were identified and probably reflect exposure to different environmental influences including different pathogens. Assuming that the geographically unique MHC's identified in this study are due in part to pathogen pressures, Navy animals may be at varying degrees of risk when deployed into waters with free-ran in sea lion populations (i.e. different sea lion pathogens ma be active in different geographical locations).