Cellulose Nanomaterials: A Novel Adjuvant and Delivery System for Aquaculture Vaccine Applications

• Main Author: Turner, Sarah M.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@UMaine 2024
• Subjects: Cellulose Nanomaterials; Aquaculture; Vaccines; Atlantic salmon; Adjuvants; Biopolymers; Animal Diseases; Aquaculture and Fisheries; Immunotherapy; Nanomedicine; Veterinary Infectious Diseases; Salmo salar
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/3929; https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/context/etd/article/4990/viewcontent/embargo_D_Turner_Sarah_May_24.pdf

This applied interdisciplinary project capitalized upon the University of Maine’s research expertise, facilities, and industry partnerships in aquaculture, fish health and cellulose nanomaterial (CNM) science and engineering towards the development of a safe and efficacious new generation of CNM adjuvanted vaccines for commercial aquaculture. Disease outbreaks in aquaculture cause significant production losses, necessitating vaccines for disease management. However, vaccines can be expensive, vary in effectiveness, and produce adjuvant-induced adverse effects, causing fish welfare issues and negative economic impacts. The hypothesis driving this research was that CNM, a renewable wood fiber, could be tuned to act as depots/adjuvants in vaccine formulations to achieve biocompatible, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective disease protection in the extensively farmed species, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). First, in vivo safety of various unmodified CNM formulations demonstrated the biopolymer was a low risk of harm evidenced by minimal gross reactions in Atlantic salmon post-injection. However, Atlantic salmon vaccinated with unmodified CNM formulations demonstrated indeterminate serum IgM antibody response to inactivated strains of Aeromonas salmonicida using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This suggested a need for immobilization of antigens to CNM for efficacious immunogenicity. In collaboration with the Mason Laboratory in the University of Maine’s Biomedical Engineering Department, the surface carboxyl group on TOCNF was leveraged to investigate methods of physically crosslinking TOCN fibers into a matrix as one way to achieve high antigen loading for controlled delivery and immunomodulation. Citric acid cross-linked TOCNF hydrogels were produced with a Vibrio anguillarum bacterin acting as the antigen and examined after 600- degree days post-implantation with a modified passive integrated transponder tagging device. Scored gross and microscopic pathologies demonstrated a ...