Role of DC-NK cross-talk in viral infection: defining the critical molecular mechanisms

DC-NK 串扰在病毒感染中的作用：定义关键分子机制

• 批准号: nhmrc : 353680
• 负责人: Prof Mariapia Degli-Esposti
• 金额: $ 34.61万
• 依托单位: The University of Western Australia
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2005-01-01 至 2007-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/role-dc-nk-molecular-mechanisms/98847
• 关键词: Role; DC; NK; cross; talk

Dendritic cells (DC) are a highly specialized subset of cells involved in activating the immune system in response to infection. Dendritic cells can activate T cells, which then destroy infected or damaged cells. Recent evidence has suggested that activation of natural killer (NK) cells may also be an important function of dendritic cells. NK cells specialize in the removal of damaged cells and have been shown to be particularly important in controlling viral infection and tumour growth and spread. The central aim of this work is to determine what mechanisms are used by dendritic cells to activate NK cells during viral infection. The well characterized murine cytomegalovirus model (MCMV) will be used to address this question. MCMV is a model for human cytomegalovirus infection (HCMV). HCMV infection usually poses no risk to healthy individuals, however, in people who are immunosuppressed, such as cancer or AIDS patients, HCMV is a significant cause of mortality. The MCMV infection model has provided important insights as to how the immune system controls infection, and the mechanisms utilized by the virus to circumvent these processes. The proposed studies will enhance our understanding of how natural killer cell function is regulated by dendritic cells, and how viruses may interfere with this process. More importantly, the results will provide critical insights into how immunotherapy protocols may be modified to enhance effectiveness.

树突状细胞（DC）是响应感染而激活免疫系统的高度专业的细胞。树突状细胞可以激活T细胞，然后破坏感染或受损的细胞。最近的证据表明，自然杀伤（NK）细胞的激活也可能是树突状细胞的重要功能。 NK细胞专门从事去除受损的细胞，并且已被证明在控制病毒感染，肿瘤生长和扩散方面特别重要。这项工作的核心目的是确定树突状细胞在病毒感染过程中使用哪些机制激活NK细胞。特征良好的鼠大型核病毒模型（MCMV）将用于解决这个问题。 MCMV是人类巨细胞病毒感染（HCMV）的模型。 HCMV感染通常不会对健康个体没有风险，但是，对于癌症或艾滋病患者等免疫抑制的人，HCMV是死亡率的重要原因。 MCMV感染模型就免疫系统如何控制感染提供了重要的见解，以及病毒利用的机制来规避这些过程。拟议的研究将增强我们对天然杀伤细胞功能如何受树突状细胞调节的理解，以及病毒如何干扰这一过程。更重要的是，结果将提供有关如何修改免疫疗法方案以提高有效性的关键见解。