Operation Jupiter: Shark DNA for future Soldiers?

01 November 2016 (11:32 UTC-07 Tango 01) 11 Aban 1395/30 Muharram 1438/02 Wu Zu (10th month) 4714

They sure are thinking outside the box over at the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Chemical and Biological Technologies Department.

I’ve written many times before how the U.S. Defense Department’s JUPITR ATD program is connected to the ebola outbreaks in western Africa. Back in August the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Chemical and Biological Technologies Department published an article called Importance of Hypervariable Region 2 for Stability and Affinity of a Shark Single-Domain Antibody Specific for Ebola Virus Nucleoprotein.

U.S. Navy researchers discovered that the antibodies of a shark’s immune system might be used to help create a vaccine for humans, against ebola. However, the shark antibodies have relatively low ‘melting’ points and researchers are attempting to find a way to increase the melting point, and conduct “humanization” of shark antibodies: “… we utilized CDR grafting combined with site directed mutagenesis to increase the melting temperature (stability) of a shark derived anti-NP sdAb. Two derivatives of the shark sdAb [single-domain antibody] were constructed: One where CDRs 1 and 3 along with HV2 (the designation given to the CDR2 region of shark sdAb) were grafted onto the framework of SP15, and another in which only CDRs 1 and 3 were grafted. Interestingly, we found that the HV2 region, which is located somewhat remote from antigen-binding CDR1 and CDR3 regions, had significant impact on both affinity and stability. This work elucidates the importance of the HV2 region on both folding stability and antigen binding.”

Now realize that this work to find a vaccine against ebola is being conducted by the DoD’s official Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction: Defense Threat Reduction Agency, or DTRA.