Abstract :
The portfolio of reagents for immunology research in veterinary species is limited compared
to those available for humans and model biomedical species such as mice. For example, we
still lack the reagents to fully ascertain if the immunological paradigms relating to the
development, function and inter-relationships between the major T helper cell subsets
(Th1, Th2, Th17) apply in ruminants, including goats. Such reagents are essential for rational
and strategic approaches to vaccine design based on the identification of correlates
of protection. Although a number of human immunological reagents such as monoclonal
antibodies (mAb) and cytokines have been shown to cross-react with the farmed ruminant
species (cattle, sheep and goats), a greater degree of cross-reactivity is found for reagents
specifically developed against ruminant species. Thus, for goats, the most likely sources of
cross-reactive reagents are those made against cattle and sheep. Nevertheless, although
high inter-species homologies are evident at the gene level in ruminants, cross-reactivity
of mAb, cytokines and molecular probes cannot be guaranteed and reagents may have to be
developed specifically. Here we review the current availability of immunological reagents
for caprine immunology and how those reagents can be used to understand T cell biology
