Heat shock proteins expressed in the marsupial Tasmanian devil are potential antigenic candidates in a vaccine against devil facial tumour disease.

ABSTRACT: The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), the largest extant carnivorous marsupial and endemic to Tasmania, is at the verge of extinction due to the emergence of a transmissible cancer known as devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). DFTD has spread over the distribution range of the species and has been responsible for a severe decline in the global devil population. To protect the Tasmanian devil from extinction in the wild, our group has focused on the development of a prophylactic vaccine. Although this work has shown that vaccine preparations using whole DFTD tumour cells supplemented with adjuvants can induce anti-DFTD immune responses, alternative strategies that induce stronger and more specific immune responses are required. In humans, heat shock proteins (HSPs) derived from tumour

SUBMITTER: Tovar C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5922574 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature