The role of dendritic cell subsets in the decision between T cell tolerance and immunity

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/115050

Funding Status
Closed

Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the .

Funded Activity Summary

The immune system protects the body against infection by means of a population of circulating white blood cells called lymphocytes. Each lymphocyte has on its surface its own particular receptor which recognises only one out of the universe of possible substances. Receptors are generated in a semi-random way, using a combination of elements encoded by the genes, and it is possible to generate receptors that react with the body itself, rather than with invading organisms. If the cells bearing these self-reactive receptors become activated, an autoimmune disease ensues. The question of how lymphocytes can tell the difference between the body itself and foreign organisms is of major interest to immunologists. One of the first ideas was that self-reactive lymphocytes are inactivated by making reactions early in life. Despite the simplicity and intellectual appeal of this idea, it is inconsistent with a large body of experimental evidence. On the basis of number of new experiments, I have proposed an alternative model of self tolerance for one of the subsets of lymphocytes. In this model, the cells that help lymphocytes to recognise particular substances possess the property of distinguishing self from foreign, and pass that information on. The aim of this project is to provide direct experimental evidence in support of the model. Many of our attempts to deal with medical problems related to the immune system have been hampered by our lack of understanding of exactly how immune tolerance is controlled. If my model proves to be correct, it will be possible to manipulate immune responses with far greater effectiveness, providing new treatments for autoimmune disease, allergy, graft rejection and vaccination.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2000

End Date: 01-01-2002

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $445,009.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Emergency medicine

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Allergy | Autoimmune disease | Dendritic cell | Immunological memory | Immunological tolerance | Organ transplantation | T cell receptor transgenic mice | Vaccination

Related Links