Super Powers: USU Researchers Say Alpacas' Unique Immune Systems Could Aid Humans

With their lovable fluffy faces, generally docile demeanor and gangly, four-beat gait, alpacas are having a moment in popular culture. But the camelid mammals, native to South America, possess a unique super power.

“These animals, which are part of the Camelidae family, like camels and llamas, have a unique class of antibodies called Heavy Chain-Only Antibodies or ‘hcAbs,’” says Utah State University undergraduate researcher James Cisneros. “These are more stable than conventional antibodies, such as human antibodies, and smaller, which enables them to penetrate tissues more effectively and reach epitopes that are inaccessible to conventional antibodies, such as enzyme-active sites, viral crevices or intracellular targets.”

With faculty mentor Zhongde Wang, professor in USU’s Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences, Cisneros and doctoral student Julio Landinez Aponte are attempting to genetically engineer these alpaca hcAbs to combat such human diseases as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and viral infections.

“It’s a long process that requires repeated trials and perseverance,” says Cisneros, a human biology major and recipient of a Utah System of Higher Education Student Success Scholarship. “And there was a huge learning curve for me at first, as I learned to use specialized microscopes and micromanipulators to perform assisted reproduction techniques, such as somatic cell nuclear transfer or ‘cloning,’ and pronuclear injection.”

Cisneros says he loves the “culture of research” at Utah State and the opportunity to work with supportive mentors.

“Research is hard, you hit walls and you fail over and over again,” says the Salt Lake County native. “Most of the time you get it wrong, but you keep trying. The percentage of time you succeed is low, but when you do succeed, it’s big. Really big.”