Welcome to our lab at the Baker Institute for Animal Health
Anti-viral antibodies
The good, the bad and the ugly
Antibodies targeting viruses work in many different ways. Whilst the function of some antibodies is crystal clear, it is incredible that the activity of some antibodies is still a complete mystery.
The Caddy Lab aims to unravel some of the puzzles surrounding how antibodies work. We are interested in antibodies that are beneficial to the host, as well as those anti-viral antibodies that can have harmful effects.
Non-neutralizing antibodies
We want to understand more about the protective activity of non-neutralising antibodies. These antibodies do not block viral entry into cells, so how are they working?
We have identified a novel pathway by which non-neutralizing antibodies can enhance antigen presentation and boost activation of cytotoxic T cells. This represents a new type of immune synergy between the two arms of the adaptive immune response. Discovery of this new pathway raises many new questions that we are now working to investigate further.
Maternal antibodies
Maternal antibodies are a very special kind of antibody, transferred from mother to infant to protect against neonatal infections. However, these antibodies can also block the infant response to vaccines. Despite this phenomenon being identified decades ago, the mechanisms underpinning this interference are still a mystery. We are working to discover how maternal antibodies interact with infant antibody responses. This will pave the way for development of new vaccine strategies.
