Virus-specific CD8+ T cell responses in hepatitis B/D virus co-infection: mechanisms of failure and strategies for restoration (02)

• Subject Area: Virology ; Immunology
• Term: since 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272983813

In the current funding period, we demonstrated that HDAg-specific CD8+ T cells can be partially restored during bulevirtide (BLV) therapy. However, in the majority of patients, HDV has evaded from the HDAg-specific CD8+ T cell response by escape mutations within the targeted T cell epitopes. The absence of functional HDAg-specific CD8+ T cells targeting conserved viral epitopes thus helps to explain why BLV mono-therapy does not induce sustained virus elimination in the majority of patients. In the next funding period, we aim to define the role of immunity in the context of novel treatment strategies that aim at HBV and HDV cure. Immune cells that are less or not prone to viral escape will be of special interest (e.g. CD8+ T cells targeting HBsAg; CD4+ T cells; NK cells and MAIT cells).

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 179: Determinants and dynamics of elimination versus persistence of hepatitis virus infection
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Heads: Dr. Hendrik Luxenburger, since 7/2024; Professor Dr. Christoph Neumann-Haefelin