Durable Immunity to Ricin Toxin Elicited by Intranasally Administered Monoclonal Antibody-Based Immune Complexes

Lindsey Tolman, a fifth-year graduate student in Nicholas Mantis’ lab, recently published an article entitled “Durable Immunity to Ricin Toxin Elicited by Intranasally Administered Monoclonal Antibody-Based Immune Complexes” in the journal Immunohorizons.

This work investigated the impact on survival, illness, and immune response in mice treated with ricin toxin or ricin bound by monoclonal antibodies called ricin immune complexes (RICs). The ricin within RICs is fully neutralized yet remains highly immunostimulatory, allowing for a rapid immune response. During the course of her investigation, Tolman found that unlike other immune complexes, RICs are taken up and processed by the cell independent of the constant region, or Fc, of the antibodies surrounding the antigen.

Current and upcoming work from Tolman and the Mantis lab is focused on determining the Fc-independent uptake and cellular processing mechanisms utilized by RICs as well as the role of key cell types such as helper T cells in mediating the observed adaptive immunity.

Tolman’s work with RICs plays into the overall goal of the Mantis lab in the development of antibody-based therapies for biothreats and infectious diseases.

With this publication, Tolman demonstrated that not only can therapeutic antibodies be used to resolve ricin intoxication after exposure, but can also be used prophylactically in a vaccinal capacity. She presented this research at the recent Gordon Research Conference on the Biology of Acute Respiratory Infection as both a talk and a poster.

Tolman will defend her thesis in October 2023 with the hope of going into the pharmaceutical and drug development industry. Some advice she would give new students or those wishing to pursue a graduate career would be to prioritize the lab environment and culture as the people you work with on a day-to-day basis are just as important to your learning and success as the PI you work for.