Objective
Regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) inhibit immune responses and are required to maintain immune tolerance. Tregs express membrane protein GARP, which displays latent TGF-β1 on the cell surface. Immunosuppression by human Tregs appears to require GARP-mediated activation of TGF-β1.
My objectives are to unravel the molecular aspects of TGF-β1 activation by GARP and determine the functional importance of this process in physiological and pathological conditions where Tregs or other GARP-expressing cells are present. As this implies the development of new tools to modulate GARP-dependent TGF-β1 activation and Treg immunosuppression, we will also explore their potential for the treatment of immune-related human diseases, and notably cancer.
More specifically, I will:
- Derive antibodies that modulate GARP-mediated TGF-β1 production by human Tregs and perform structural analyses in the presence of these antibodies to identify tri-dimensional changes in GARP/TGF-β1 complexes that lead to the release of active TGF-β1.
- Identify and characterize additional proteins implicated in TGF-β1 activation by human Tregs, as GARP is required but not sufficient for TGF-β1 activation by Tregs.
- Determine the immunological and clinical impact of inhibitory anti-GARP mAbs on cancer in mice. We will derive anti-murine GARP mAbs. As an alternative, we will generate mutant mice expressing a chimeric mouse/human GARP that is recognized by anti-human GARP mAbs. The antibodies will be tested in tumour-bearing mice treated or not with other immunotherapies including vaccines or immunostimulatory antibodies.
- Determine whether blocking anti-GARP mAbs improve immune responses to microbial vaccines or to chronic infections, as these represent important applications for transient inhibition of Treg activity in humans.
- Analyse the expression and roles of GARP in non-Treg cells to better understand GARP functions, which remain largely unknown, and predict potential toxicities of anti-GARP mAbs.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology prostate cancer
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology skin cancer melanoma
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology immunotherapy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2015-CoG
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1348 LOUVAIN LA NEUVE
Belgium
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