The Rockefeller University

Bactericidal Assays to Determine Antibody Effiicacy

Purpose

Our laboratory develops methods to control infections by gram-positive bacteria. In the process we need to test what we have developed (vaccine-induced antibodies recombinant antibodies chimeric antibodies) in a human system. One of the best systems is human blood which contains white blood cells that phagocytize disease bacteria. Therefore to test the products we have developed we need to take blood from volunteers and use the white blood cells in that blood to test our products to determine if they enhance the ability of the white cells to kill the bacteria and also evaluate the immune response by these WBC to the bacteria. In some cases we will compare the activity of the product following previous activation of the WBC with the person's own bacteria to that with no previous encounter with the bacteria. To this end the donor will be swabbed. The swabbed bacteria from the skin (forearm) and the nares will be grown and used with the above assay.