This contract provides for the development and standardization of animal models for infectious diseases, and may include efficacy testing of candidate products.

Poor maternal nutrition and obesity during pregnancy have been associated with a higher incidence ofchronic diseases including cardiovascular disorders, childhood asthma and diabetes. Many of thesecomplications could be due to common underlying immune deficits elicited in utero by a high fat diet (HFD)and/or complications of the mother's obese state. This will be investigated using a nonhuman primate(NHP) model whereby baboons are fed a high calorie/high fat diet (HFD) prior to breeding, duringpregnancy and lactation.

Saliva performs a number of extremely important biological functions that are instrumental in maintaining oralhealth. It has been estimated that more than 5 million people in the US suffers from salivary gland dysfunction(Sjogren's syndrome). Although no genes mutations have been identified that could explain the pathogenesisof Sjogren's syndrome (SS), recent evidence have suggested that T17-cell infiltration and induction ofapoptosis in salivary gland acinar cells could be the two major events that could lead to salivary glanddestruction.

For genes involved in tissue generation and homeostasis, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) tends to pause immediately downstream of their transcription start sites. Compared to de novo recruitment of Pol II, a preassembled and poised Pol II could be more conducive to rapid and synchronous transcriptional activation in response to various physiologic cues. However, virtually nothing is known about the biological significance of this highly conserved and prevalent phenomenon in transcriptional regulation of tissue generation and homeostasis.