b1c016bf_y_Database_and_Analysis_Portal__4
[0] Nikolich-Zugich, Janko [1] Immune function and Biodefense in Children, Elderly and Immunocompromised Populations [2] Oregon Health and Science University [3] NO1-AI-50027* [4] 
The overarching long-term goal is to characterize immune markers and mechanisms in the elderly that determine their vulnerability to infectious and bioterrorism agents in categories A-C. The contractor has developed both rodent and primate models to examine potential immune defects associated with aging. Since one cannot examine all potential biodefense organisms, we have chosen the category B pathogen WNV as a model system. This emerging virus provides a unique opportunity to understand general features of immune vulnerability in the elderly since: (i) Elderly humans are highly susceptible to WNV compared to immunocompetent adults; (ii) WNV infects both mice and rhesus macaques and the contractor has developed well defined models in both animals to examine age-related defects in immunity, as well as the mouse model of age-related vulnerability to WNV; and (iii) the WNV epidemics in the US provides an opportunity to assess immunity in both the adult and elderly populations and to verify mechanisms of immune vulnerability to WNV; (iv) there is currently no approved WNV vaccine, increasing the urgency of this research. The goal of this contract is to establish and/or exploit well-defined aged mouse and Rhesus macaque (RM) models to elucidate mechanisms of vulnerability to WNV, to validate these mechanisms in elderly humans and to select the best defined ones for manipulation and correction.
ImmPort: Immunology Database and Analysis Portal
4