Grant: Operating Grant

During viral infection (or cancer development), some of our cells start to produce proteins that are not present in normal cells. The role of the immune system is to recognize cells displaying these proteins in order to kill them and clear the infection (or get rid of cancer cells). For reasons that are still poorly understood, the immune system is often unable to recognize these cells. Our research program will take advantage of state-of-the-art techniques to identify and characterize proteins expressed by cells infected with the Herpes simplex virus, in order to develop ways to improve the recognition of these cells by the immune system. We will also characterize the molecular mechanisms that cells use to display viral proteins at their surface in order to illicit an immune response. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for the development of novel therapeutic approaches and vaccines.