Pilot Research Projects
Yerkes NPRC 2020 Pilot Projects
The Yerkes National Primate Research Center selected two coronavirus-related pilot projects to fund this year. The projects were selected based on their:
- potential to generate high-impact, preliminary data that will result in peer-reviewed, research project grants from outside sources; and
- alignment with NIH and Yerkes goals.
The recipients are:
Sudhir Pai Kasturi, PhD
Evaluating a new SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) based COVID-19 vaccine with clinical alum and alum adsorbed 3M-052 adjuvants in rhesus macaques
Significance: COVID-19 is a new infectious disease in humans caused by a novel coronavirus (CoV) named SARS-CoV-2. The rapid global spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections highlights an urgent need for a vaccine and/or therapeutics to stem the pandemic.
Specific Aim: To evaluate a new SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) based COVID-19 vaccine with clinical alum and alum adsorbed 3M-052 adjuvants in rhesus macaques
Mirko Paiardini, PhD
Determining SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis, viral dynamics, and immune responses in nonhuman primate models
Significance: Little is known regarding the viral pathogenesis and immune response to SARS-CoV-2. Given the devastation the disease is causing worldwide, it is imperative to elucidate the viral pathogenesis and early immune responses that may inform the treatment of infected individuals, identification of correlates of protection, and design of therapeutics and vaccines.
Specific Aim #1: To characterize the breadth of the early innate and adaptive immune response and pathogenesis of SARSCoV-2 infection systemically and localized within the respiratory tract.
Specific Aim #2: To assess the replication kinetics and tissue localization of SARS-CoV-2. Thomas Vanderford, PhD, Director of the Yerkes Virology Core will lead this component of the pilot project.
Yerkes NPRC 2019 Pilot Projects
The 2019 recipients are:
Kelly Ethun, DVM, PhD, Adam Ericsen, PhD, and Mar Sanchez, PhD
Variability and heritability of milk immunological phenotypes in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)
The researchers will study milk immunological profiles in rhesus macaques and their associations with infant gastrointestinal bacterial communities.
Specific Aim 1: To determine what different types of milk immunological phenotypes exist in the Yerkes rhesus macaque breeding colony and whether the phenotypes exhibit familial patterns.
Specific Aim 2: To determine whether these milk immunological profiles predict the composition of infant gastrointestinal microbiome and incidence of infantile enteritis.
Adriana Galvan, PhD, and Thomas Wichmann, MD
A calcium imaging-based platform for studies of parkinsonism and the effects of deep brain stimulation on cortical activity in primates
The researchers will establish techniques to visualize the activity of cortical neurons in awake monkeys, using miniature microscopes and artificial proteins that emit fluorescent signals in response to the levels of calcium in the neurons (as a measure of the cells’ activity).
Specific Aim 1: To characterize the spontaneous and task-related activity of neurons in the motor regions of the cerebral cortex.
Specific Aim 2: To monitor changes in the activity of the neurons in the motor cortex during electrical stimulation of subcortical brain nuclei.
Specific Aim 3: To assess the temporal stability of the patterns of activity of motor cortex neurons.
Maud Mavigner, PhD, and Guido Silvestri, MD
Inhibiting stemness pathways to reduce HIV persistence in long-lived latently infected memory CD4+ T-cells
The key obstacle to cure HIV infection is a reservoir of latently infected memory CD4+ T-cells that persist despite long-term antiretroviral therapy and are maintained through cellular proliferation. Dr. Mavigner will explore stemness pathways regulating the proliferation of the long-lived central memory (CM) and stem cell memory (SCM) CD4+ T-cells by performing, in the rhesus macaque model, a detailed ex vivo analysis of the impact of pharmacological modulation of these pathways on memory CD4+ T-cell biology and on SIV latency.
Specific Aim 1: To explore stemness pathways that maintain the proliferation and survival of CM and SCM CD4+ T-cells in healthy rhesus macaques.
Specific Aim 2: To investigate the role of stemness pathways on SIV persistence in CM and SCM CD4+ T-cells.
This research project is funded jointly with the Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
Eduardo Salinas, PhD, and Arash Grakoui, PhD
Defining mechanisms of hepatitis E virus evasion to host antibody responses during acute infection
The researchers will determine how the virally encoded soluble ORF2 (ORF2S) contributes to hepatitis E virus (HEV) replicative fitness in vivo and whether ORF2S promotes evasion of the host antibody response during acute HEV infection.
Specific Aim 1: To determine the contribution of soluble ORF2 to viral replication during acute HEV infection.
Specific Aim 2: To define changes in repertoire and neutralizing activity of HEV-specific antibodies from macaques infected with wildtype or ORF2S-null HEV.