The Immunological Toolbox is a repository of antibodies, reagents and resources to advance veterinary immunology research.
The Pirbright Institute holds a collection of over 500 hybridomas that produce monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against cattle, pig and chicken cell surface markers or viral proteins.
This resource is widely used in laboratories around the world to advance veterinary immunology and vaccinology, providing several antibodies that are fundamental to assessing immune responses.
Pirbright started a major project to sequence all hybridomas held in our database stocks, as well as those from our partner, The Roslin Institute, and other collaborating institutes in Europe and North America.
As well as securing these important reagents, this also enables rapid translation into transfectable gene blocks, securing them for the future and helping to reduce cost of cryostorage. Theses sequences will also open the possibility of engineering antibodies to better suit research needs.
In addition, through partnership with The Roslin Institute, new antibodies that address research needs will be generated, sequenced, and added to the collection.
Services offered
- Expansion of hybridoma stock
- Antibody production and purification (from our existing Hybridoma cells or from supernatants supplied by Researchers)
- Protein expression
- de novo generation of monoclonal antibodies
- Assay development
- Monoclonal antibody sequencing and cloning
- Expression of recombinant antibodies
The Roslin Institute and The Pirbright Institute welcome applications from researchers wishing to make use of the UK Immunological Toolbox facility. External requests and training requirements should be addressed to the UK Immunological toolbox team.
Projects will be individually costed and prioritised by a steering committee taking into account the nature of the tool(s) requested, their utility, community requirements and accessibility. Prioritisation of requests is done fortnightly and is based on the information supplied.
Toolbox website
The Immunological Toolbox website is a comprehensive online resource, hosting detailed information on over 1,600 hybridomas and other reagents essential for veterinary immunology research.
It provides easy access to reagent details, including species specificity, application data, and user feedback, facilitating collaboration and advancing research.
The website also enables researchers to request reagents, contribute data, and engage with the global veterinary immunology community.
Team
Prof John Hammond - Director of Research
Dr Danish Munir - Head of The Pirbright Immunological Toolbox
Dr Shivankari Krishnan - Postdoctoral Scientist
Sylvia Crossley - Cell Culture Specialist (Antibody Purification)
Elena Lokhman - Antibody Production Specialist
Kevan Hanson - Research Assistant
Dr Marie Di Placido - Steering Team Member
Contact
For enquiries regarding facility use, training, the Immunological Toolbox Database and website, or the UK Immunological Toolbox project, please contact immunological.toolbox@pirbright.ac.uk
