Reconstitution of antiviral immunity and elimination of persisting hepatitis B virus infection (18)

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

We developed the clinical candidate therapeutic hepatitis B vaccine TherVacB, a heterologous protein prime - recombinant MVA boost vaccine that induces strong and polyfunctional HBV-specific T-cell responses and cures HBV in low- to medium-titre HBV carrier mice. In high-titre HBV carrier mice, however, vaccine efficacy is blunted. This project aims at identifying which type of T cell response is required to cure HBV by single-cell analysis. We target HBV gene expression and immune checkpoints by siRNA to dissect how this affects immune control, and compare the immunotypes observed in our preclinical models to that obtained in clinical trials.

• 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: Professor Dr. Dirk Grimm, until 6/2024; Dr. Anna Dagmara Kosinska, since 7/2024; Professorin Dr. Ulrike Protzer