Grant: Operating Grant

The immune system is designed to recognize the difference between harmful and non-harmful foreign proteins, and to not react against proteins that normally exist in an individual. Unfortunately, when the processes controlling these functions breakdown diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and allergy can result. Although many different types of white blood cells work together to regulate immune responses, one of the major players is the CD4+ T cell. Via their ability to make proteins that send messages between cells, known as cytokines, CD4+ T cells have a central role in directing immunity in health and disease. We are interested in studying a newly recognized type of CD4+ T cell, known as Th17 cells, since they are thought to cause much of the tissue destruction and injury in patients with autoimmune diseases. Currently, very little is known about how Th17 cells develop and function in humans, and whether they are responsible for the tissue damage in chronic inflammatory diseases. In addition, it is not clear whether they are regulated in the same way as other types of CD4+ T cells. This proposal aims to address these critical questions, and will better define how Th17 cells may be targeted therapeutically in patients who have diseases that are caused by abnormal inflammatory immune responses.