Project Details
Projekt
Understanding the contribution of T cells in infectious bursal disease virus immunopathogenesis and vaccine protection
Applicant
Professorin Silke Rautenschlein, Ph.D.
Subject Area
Veterinary Medical Science
Term
since 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 434524639
Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is one of the most important immunosuppressive pathogens of poultry worldwide. While B lymphocytes are the main target cells of the virus, T lymphocytes are not only involved in controlling virus replication but may also interfere with the recovery of infected birds. The specific role of the different T cell subsets in infectious bursal disease (IBD) remains unclear, and therefore needs to be further elucidated to develop more efficient IBD-vaccination strategies. Our overall goal of this project is to provide a better understanding of the role of different T cell subsets in the phases of IBD. We will infect chickens that lack specific T cell subsets with IBDV strains of different virulence and compare them to infected non transgenic hatch-mates. Our specific aims are to determine the involvement of γδ T cells in IBDV pathogenesis and gut-associated immunity specifically in the acute phase of infection. Furthermore, we want to identify the involvement of αβ T cells in IBDV clearance and protection. To assess the role of regulatory T cells in the recovery process, we will focus mainly on the post-acute phase of the disease. In addition, we aim to identify T cell epitopes, as possible targets for future vaccine candidates. Our Work Package 1 (WP1) is part of a collaborative approach unravelling the avian immune response, and will be tightly embedded in the context of the research unit “ImmunoChick”, FOR5130. The individual projects will benefit from the collaborations among each other and provide a better insight into the immune system of chickens in relation to important pathogens.
DFG Programme
Research Units
