ProImmune has announced a collaboration with the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute to enhance veterinary immunology research by developing and validating novel species-specific Ankyron binders.
ProImmune said its Ankyron binding technology will enhance understanding of animal health and facilitate new strategies for preventing, controlling and diagnosing veterinary and zoonotic diseases.
The Roslin Institute will use its expertise to identify target proteins where research reagents are needed.
ProImmune will then create specific Ankyron binders for porcine, bovine, avian and salmonid species, which will be useful for applications such as flow cytometry and immunofluorescence imaging, especially where antibodies are unavailable.
Ankyrons—small (~15 kDa) and high-specificity proteins identified through a high-throughput screening platform—allow for rapid and cost-effective discovery across diverse protein targets.
The company said in a statement that data on validated Ankyron binders will be made available through its Immunological Toolbox website.
The resource is a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded initiative between the Roslin and Pirbright Institutes dedicated to expanding and enhancing the tools available to the veterinary immunology research community.
Researchers across the field will then be able to easily access this reagent library, "expanding the range of achievable techniques and streamlining research processes."
Professor Jayne Hope, Professor of Immunology at the Roslin Institute, said: "Ankyrons are transforming reagent availability and accessibility across veterinary research and the wider life sciences community."
A relative lack of research tools has hampered progress in veterinary immunology: the availability of Ankyrons will help to enable these studies and fill important gaps in the immune reagent portfolio.
"This collaboration represents an important step toward the development of research tools which support sustainable farming, strengthen global food security and improve the control of zoonotic diseases," added Dr Nikolai Schwabe, CEO of ProImmune.
By adopting a holistic view of animal and human health, this work aligns closely with the WHO One Health approach and helps lay the foundations for a healthier and more resilient future for both animals and people alike.