Studying gamma-delta T cells to develop new immunotherapies for malaria and tuberculosis

Bruno Silva-Santos

Gulbenkian Instituto de Medicina Molecular (GiMM), Lisboa, Portugal

Malaria and tuberculosis are two infectious diseases that continue to place a heavy burden on the world, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. The problem is that existing vaccines have so far failed to fully prevent infection, making it difficult to control and eradicate these diseases.

A major obstacle to the development of new and better vaccines is our limited understanding of how the immune system works against these pathogens. In this regard, the project will focus on a specific and poorly understood group of immune cells, the gamma-delta T cells, which proliferate vigorously in cases of malaria and tuberculosis.

The project will study the activation and differentiation processes of this type of white blood cells, specifically the mechanisms that enable them to respond to infections, in particular through the production of immune hormones called cytokines, and will seek to identify molecules that can serve as therapeutic targets. The aim is to identify new molecular strategies to mobilise the desired type of response, thereby enabling the development of new gamma-delta T-cell-based immunotherapies to combat these infectious diseases.

Novel regulators of gamma-delta T cell subset differentiation and activation in infection

€500,000.00