Location: Biologics Development Module
Project Number: 3022-32000-026-007-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 15, 2023
End Date: Sep 14, 2025
Objective:
To evaluate the usage of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) for the evaluation of toxicity and efficacy of adjuvants utilized in the delivery of vaccines.
Approach:
For evaluation, adjuvants will be formulated with either an test antigen or nucleic acids expressing a test antigen. C. elegans will be treated with unformulated vaccine, adjuvanted vaccine, and adjuvant alone and evaluated for death over time. Currently commercially available adjuvants will be utilized to determine what the expected mortality profile will be with adjuvants of known efficacy. C. elegans will also be evaluated for ability of the adjuvants to deliver the vaccine across cell layers through microscopy or evaluation by biochemical assay. This data will be integrated together to create a profile of vaccines ability to elicit or prevent mortality while facilitating transfer of antigen, or antigen coding nucleic acids, across the cellular membranes.
