Grant: Project Grant

Cytomegalovirus is a member of the herpes virus family that causes serious complications in transplant patients and newborns, and cytomegalovirus is associated with cancer and cardiovascular disease. We are studying a cell surface protein involved in the normal regulation of the immune response that cytomegalovirus exploits to escape the immune response. There is considerable genetic variation in the receptor, which is known as LILRB1, and the variation in the viral immune evasion protein known as UL18. We previously discovered that transplant patients with distinct variants of LILRB1 do not control cytomegalovirus as well as the general population. The goal of the proposed research project is to understand why the rare individuals with the LILRB1 variants do poorly with a view to tailoring current antiviral therapies (personalized medicine) for those at highest risk post-transplant and for informing the development of a vaccine to prevent congenital infection.