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The Humane Research Trust is funding a project to create a way of testing vaccines without using animals.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow will use donated human tonsil tissue and advanced 3D cell-growing techniques to build a model that mimics how the human immune system responds to vaccines.
They will test the model using the measles vaccine to show that it could provide a reliable alternative to animal testing during the early stages of vaccine development.
Developing new vaccines is a long and complex process, involving many stages of extensive testing. Before a vaccine can be tested in people, scientists need to estimate the likely effectiveness. This often involves testing vaccines in animals to see how their immune systems respond. However, animal studies do not always accurately reflect how the human immune system responds.
“Currently, the translation of fundamental research into vaccine effectiveness is highly inefficient.
Professor Margaret Hosie, Professor of Comparative Virology
"Many vaccine candidates that show early promise in animal models subsequently prove ineffective in clinical trials.”
Scientists are also concerned about diseases that can spread from animals to humans, known as zoonotic diseases.
Some vaccines, such as the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, can provide some protection against related animal-borne diseases. However, if diseases such as measles become very rare or are eliminated, routine vaccination may decline. This could leave people more vulnerable to related infections that originate in animals.
As a result, there is a growing need for better ways to study how the immune system responds to vaccines. Researchers are increasingly turning to innovative technologies that can provide more human-relevant results.
One promising approach uses organoids, which are small collections of human cells grown in the laboratory. These miniature tissue models can be used to study how the body responds to viruses and vaccines.
In some cases, scientists use tonsil tissue that would otherwise be discarded after routine surgery. When exposed to a virus or vaccine candidate, these organoids can mimic the immune response of the person who donated the tissue.
Tonsil organoid systems are particularly useful for vaccine development because tonsils produce antibody-secreting cells called plasmablasts, which help the body recognise and fight infection. By studying these cells, scientists can better understand how immunity develops and identify antibodies that may be effective against viruses.
The Humane Research Trust is funding a research project at the University of Glasgow to develop and apply a new tonsil organoid system. Led by Prof Hosie, the scientists will use tissue samples from a range of donors to develop organoids. This will enable them to evaluate the impact of characteristics like sex, age, ethnicity and vaccine history on immune response.
Once they have developed their model, they will use it to test the MMR vaccine. This will prove that we can efficiently study the effects of novel vaccines without the need for animal models. Additionally, they’ll uncover key insights about how the MMR vaccine protects humans from related animal-borne diseases.
Earlier tonsil models have relied on an animal-derived product called foetal bovine serum to support the growth of the organoids. This serum is made from the bodies of unborn cows. Prof Hosie’s laboratory will replace this product with a synthetic alternative, making the model entirely animal-free and therefore more relevant to humans.
“This model system has enormous potential to replace the use of animals in the development of novel vaccines and therapeutics.
“Our goal is to further our understanding of the diversity of human immune responses to infection and vaccination.
"This would improve the rationale for which candidates should be selected for clinical trial, leading to improved and accelerated vaccine design.”
Prof Margaret Hosie
Principal investigator
Prof Hosie is a Professor of Comparative Virology at the University of Glasgow. Her laboratory's role is to research how infectious diseases develop, develop diagnostic tools, and identify new vaccines that can prevent them. Feline immunodeficiency virus - a virus affecting cats that is similar to the human lentivirus (HIV) - has been a major focus of Prof Hosie's work.
Lee Sherry
Postdoctoral researcher
Lee is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Glasgow. His work in molecular virology has focused on understanding the characteristics of viruses that lead to disease and optimising virus-like particles' ability to induce immune responses. The goal of his work is to produce better vaccine candidates.
