Research Theme

• Intracellular invasive anti-RABV neutralizing antibody
• Oral rabies vaccine aimed at environmental dissemination

Keyword

• Rabies
• Virus
• Antibody
• Vaccination

Overview of Research

• Rabies can be prevented by vaccination and administration of immunoglobulin even after exposure to rabies virus, however there is no cure for rabies, and it is difficult to avoid death if one develops rabies. Antibody therapy against viruses generally involves the use of neutralizing antibodies that target membrane proteins on the surface of viral particles. We are attempting to obtain neutralizing antibodies that can penetrate intracellularly and inhibit the viral replication process within the cell. Ultimately, we aim to develop monoclonal antibody cocktails that inhibit the viral replication process at multiple levels.
• In India, which rabies is endemic, stray dogs play a major role in maintaining the rabies virus. Therefore, prevention in stray dog populations is essential for the elimination of rabies. Large-scale oral vaccine dissemination has been conducted in wild animals in Western countries and has been shown to be effective. However, since these vaccines use attenuated live viruses, there are several concerns to use them on a large scale in environments, where people and stray dogs are very close in their life. Against this background, we aim to develop a safe oral vaccine for dogs that can be spread in environments where people and animals coexist.