Novel spray-dried ESAT-6 vaccine for pulmonary mucosal immunisation against Tuberculosis

Summary

Tuberculosis (Tb) is a severe disease with global impact which caused 1.4 million mortalities in 2019. Overcoming this global health crisis depends on developing an effective vaccine. Despite advances in vaccine development, we do not yet have an effective method of preventing disease. Development of a vaccine has been stymied, in part, by our incomplete understanding of mechanisms required for expressing an optimum protective response in the lung.
This proposal will investigate a benchmark interaction known to influence immunological protection in human disease modeled in the mouse. We seek to modulate the CD4-restricted response to ESAT-6 using novel spray-dried microparticles to better understand the influence of antigen dose and kinetics of antigen exposure on the evolution of antimycobacterial effector populations.
This proposal will provide in-depth, participatory training in state-of-the-art UK Cat3 animal laboratory techniques, including low dose aerosol infection of mice. This training supports global capacity building for essential research.

Achievements

List of Publications from the Project

Partners

• Dr. John Pearl (University of Leicester)

Project Members

Project Leaders