Development of nanobodies against Salmonella enterica and Campylobacter jejuni

The human pathogenic bacteria Salmonella enterica and Campylobacter jejuni are commonly found in the intestine of poultry. Consumption of infected chicken and eggs, and its derivatives, is the main and most important source of infection outbreaks in humans and causing diarrhoea, fevers and abdominal cramps. In some cases, severe diarrhea and dehydration followed by systemic spreading of these infections is life-threatening. At present no widely effective strategy is available to control both Salmonella and Campylobacter colonization of broiler chickens to prevent the infection in humans. To this end, AbCelex has developed a novel strategies of using nanobodies to control the level of Campylobacter and Salmonella in poultry meat by administering them as feed additives. Nanobodies are the smallest antibodies known in nature and are produced by members of the family Camelidae (like camels, llamas and alpacas) and sharks. This recently discovered antibodies present immunological and biotechnological advantages with respect to the conventional antibodies because they can be easily expressed in bacteria and produced in large quantities at a significantly lower cost. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Mauricio Terebiznik;Walid Houry;Emma Master

Student:

Partner:

AbCelex Technologies Inc

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Toronto Scarborough

Program: