Syrian golden hamsters are valuable animal models for studying metabolic disease and human infectious diseases including SARS-CoV-2. However, the usefulness of the hamster as a small animal model for biomedical research has been constrained by the lack of immunological reagents. In this proposal, the Offeror proposes to develop affinity reagents for eight immune targets of Syrian golden hamsters that are relevant to SARS-CoV-2 infections and host immune responses, and to evaluate affinity and specificity of the produced antibodies using recombinant proteins and endogenous targets expressed by immune cells from hamsters. Successful completion of the proposed work will result in a comprehensive portfolio of antibodies that facilitate pre-clinical studies on SARS-CoV-2.
