Life Sciences & Biotechnology
Title : | An OMICS approach to understand the Biological Significance of Follicular T cells (TFH) in the enrichment of Memory cells during Tuberculosis. |
Area of research : | Life Sciences & Biotechnology |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Vedprakash Dwivedi, International Centre For Genetic Engineering And Biotechnology, Delhi |
Timeline Start Year : | 2023 |
Timeline End Year : | 2026 |
Contact info : | vedprakashbt@gmail.com |
Details
Executive Summary : | BCG vaccine, developed a century ago is effective in case of disseminated and meningeal TB in young children; however, its efficacy varies in adult pulmonary TB. BCG fails to induce central memory responses and primarily develops effector memory responses. A major goal for an effective T cell-based vaccine is to induce sustained T cell responses in the lung to control infection, which maintains the granuloma and produces a pool of memory cells to populate the lung tissue. However, even after the introduction of many immunotherapies, we lack the best one to achieve sterile immunity. The situation is worsened due to an increased burden of infections due to drug-resistant strains of M.tb. M.tb tries to evade host immunity by altering the balance of Th cell responses. Th1 responses primarily develop host resistance against TB whereas, Th2 subsets assist in disease. Despite having many immunotherapeutic approaches to enhance the vaccine efficacy by selectively enhancing Th1 driven immunity, we fail to eradicate the bacterium from the host suggesting the probable role of other T cell subsets in providing optimal host protective immunity against TB. In search of other specialized host cells which may have potential to provide protection against TB, we aim to profile the role of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells in the enrichment of memory cells development and humoral immunity during TB. With this study, we aim to fill in the gaps which remain to achieve a better understanding of the optimal immune response required for host protection against TB. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Neel Sarovar Bhavesh, International Centre For Genetic Engineering And Biotechnology, Delhi-110067 |
Total Budget (INR): | 65,04,170 |
Organizations involved