Project description
Exploring the role of B cells and antibodies in tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant medical challenge, especially in low-income countries where access to expensive medication is limited. Moreover, the emergence of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and the lack of a vaccine exacerbate the situation. MART is an EU-funded project that will focus on the role of B cells and antibodies during mycobacterial infection. Scientists will employ a mouse model of TB vaccination and patient samples to characterise B cells and antibody responses in the lung. Results will provide important insight into humoral immunity in the lung mucosa, paving the way towards the clinical use of therapeutic antibodies as well as the development of mucosal airway vaccines against TB.
Objective
Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), kills up to 1.5 million people every year. Despite sustained scientific attention, there is no effective vaccine, multidrug-resistant Mtb strains are on the rise, and impoverished people with little access to long, expensive treatments continue to bear the brunt of disease. A critical barrier to the development of an effective TB vaccine is our incomplete understanding of what constitutes a protective immune response.
Accumulating evidence suggests a role for B cells and antibodies in preventing and alleviating TB. Existing studies show that some Mtb-specific antibodies found in blood may confer protection against infection. However, whether such protective antibodies exist at the site of infection and in what quantity remains unknown. The goal of this project is to characterise antibody responses in the lung mucosa of mycobacteria-infected mice and humans, and to assess their relationship to protection versus disease. First, I will identify the antigenic targets of antibodies isolated from lung and lymphoid organs of infected mice by proteomics. Then I will use tetramer-based enrichment and single cell RNA sequencing to investigate the dynamics, transcriptional regulation and B cell receptor repertoires of lung-resident, antigen-specific B cells – the source of lung mucosal antibodies. Finally, I will translate these findings from the mouse model to humans, using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from a clinical study of TB patients with different grades of TB susceptibility. This approach will allow me to assess the existence of these mucosal antibodies in humans and to investigate their function and protective potential. Combining the mouse infection model with this unique TB patient cohort represents a unique opportunity to address the impact of humoral immunity in the lung mucosa, thus providing a sound basis for the development of mucosal airway vaccines against TB.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine pneumology tuberculosis
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA transcriptomes
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
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.
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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
4051 Basel
Switzerland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.