Week 3: Research Project

The Pickup lab studies poxviruses and their interactions with host cells, as well as their potential to be used as vectors in immunizations. Previous studies using a poxvirus known as Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) were conducted to try and elicit a mucosal immune response in rabbits against the HIV protein GP120. However, MVA administered intranasally failed to elicit a strong, mucosal immune response.

The project I have been working on is crafting a different poxvirus to be used in this study. We are working towards modifying the genome of Rabbitpox Virus to make it replication-defective and capable of expressing GP120. Rabbitpox is very pathogenic in rabbits and infects the cells of rabbit mucosa well; therefore, in theory it should be a more effective vaccine vector than MVA. However, due to its ability to cause serious disease in rabbits, we must modify its genome so that it cannot replicate and produce progeny virus following infection. It is our hypothesis that a replication-defective strain of rabbitpox will elicit a stronger mucosal immunity than MVA against GP120 without the consequence of morbidity in rabbits.

I’ve really enjoyed working on this project thus far and have learned so much. It’s been a lot of work with plasmids and gel electrophoresis, as well as learning to use restriction endonucleases to cleave DNA into pieces of interest. I’m very excited to see this project through, and am excited to see what results it will provide in the end. If our hypothesis is correct, then we may have several opportunities to craft new research questions from our results. This project has been very insightful into the world of research and virology, and I’ve loved every moment of it.