Maintenance Of Regulatory T Cells During Inflammation And Tumor Development By IL-33
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$676,979.00
Summary
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are required for preventing inflammation in tissues such as lung, fat and skin. We found recently, that the signalling molecule IL-33 is required for tissue Tregs and up-regulated during inflammation and tumor development. We therefore aim to determine the role of IL-33 in maintenance and function of Tregs and to identify molecular targets of IL-33 that may allow therapeutic targeting of Tregs in patients with inflammatory conditions or cancer.
I am a cellular immunologist interested in the study of cytokines and other regulatory molecules in inflammatory and immune responses. One key area relates to the effect on sunlight on cell-mediated immunity.
A Novel Strategy To Enhance T Cell-mediated Immunity To Vaccine Antigens
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$234,592.00
Summary
Globally there are about 33 million people living with HIV. The disease has already resulted in 23 million deaths and 2.5 million people are newly infected each year. Similarly, TB kills nearly 2 million people every year and infects about 1% of the worldÍs population every year. A vaccine is the best and also likely the only long-term solution for HIV/TB disease prevention. This research proposal looks at novel strategies to increase the efficacy of vaccines for diseases such as HIV/TB.
Our research has identified unprecedented communications between the microbes that colonize our body’s surfaces and killer T cell immunity. Our findings indicate that microflora is key to a healthy balance between two immune mediator systems that have opposing effect on T cell immunity. The project will extend our understanding of how this regulated and seeks to harness these novel insights to explain the well known, but poorly understood role of microbes in autoimmune diseases.
The Role Of IL21 In Integrating Proliferation, Migration And Differentiation Following B Cell Activation.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$318,768.00
Summary
Immunity is essential to health and requires the production of antibodies. The best antibodies are made by B-cells coming from specialised structures, called germinal centres (GC). To understand why sometimes immunity is excellent - childhood vaccines - and other times not - HIV infection, aged people - we need to understand what happens inside GC. Our prediction is that by understanding GC B cell behaviour, we will resolve good from poor immune responses and thereby develop improvements.
NK Cell Subsets And Their Role In Immune Responses
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$173,522.00
Summary
Natural killer (NK) cells are 5-10% of white blood cells of the immune system that represent one of our first lines of defense against microbes and cancer development. Recent evidence strongly suggests that NK cells are major cells of importance in the immune system, not only in acting as killers of cancer cells or virus-infected cells, but also in regulating the adaptive memory components of the immune response. Despite our greater knowledge of NK cell biology, we still know very little about t ....Natural killer (NK) cells are 5-10% of white blood cells of the immune system that represent one of our first lines of defense against microbes and cancer development. Recent evidence strongly suggests that NK cells are major cells of importance in the immune system, not only in acting as killers of cancer cells or virus-infected cells, but also in regulating the adaptive memory components of the immune response. Despite our greater knowledge of NK cell biology, we still know very little about the diversity that exists within the NK cell population. The development and maturation of NK cells requires far greater study and this proposal aims to examine this question in the best experimental model, the mouse. We have recently made an important breakthrough concerning the distinct functional behavior of newly discovered NK cell subsets. We now aim to develop a more integrated model of NK cell development, such that vaccines and adjuvants designed to prevent and ameliorate lethal and chronic infectious diseases and cancer can be more rationally designed.Read moreRead less
Immunotherapy is emerging as one of the largest breakthroughs in cancer therapy in the last 30 years, due to the recent approval of the antibody therapeutics Ipilimumab (anti-CTLA4) and Pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1). This has greatly increased interest in other immune activating modalities, either for monotherapy, or in combination with antibody therapy. Here we propose to decipher molecular mechanisms that underpin the biological function of a new class of immune activating drugs (IL-2 superkines).
Follicular Cytotoxic T Cell Differentiation And Function In Infection And B-cell Lymphoma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$963,892.00
Summary
Cytotoxic T cells eliminate infected or cancerous cells, constituting a major arm of the immune defence. In this study, we will investigate a subset of cytotoxic T cells that particularly migrate into B cell follicles to control infection and malignancy. Understanding of the differentiation and function of this subset, termed as follicular cytotoxic T (TFC) cells, will help us to develop new strategies to treat EBV and HIV infections as well as B cell lymphomas.