VNAR development through antigen immunization of Japanese topeshark ().

The VNAR (Variable New Antigen Receptor) is the smallest single-domain antibody derived from the variable domain of IgNAR of cartilaginous fishes. Despite its biomedical and diagnostic potential, research on VNAR has been limited due to the difficulties in obtaining and maintaining immune animals and the lack of research tools. In this study, we investigated the Japanese topeshark as a promising immune animal for the development of VNAR.

Human monoclonal antibodies against West Nile virus from Japanese encephalitis-vaccinated volunteers.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA flavivirus belonging to the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) serocomplex of the Flaviviridae family and causes mosquito-borne infections. Although most human infection cases are asymptomatic, approximately one in 150 infected individuals develops meningoencephalitis, with a mortality rate of 4-14%. While the development of human neutralizing antibody therapeutics against WNV is strongly anticipated, WNV is difficult to study in conventional laboratories due to its high safety level requirement.