Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) is the cause for chronic infection and tumors after transplantation. While enormous insights have been gained into adaptive anti-EBV T cell responses recent results suggest a pivotal role of innate T cell immunity in viral infections after transplantation. This project aims at understanding the interplay of innate (γδ) and adaptive (αβ) EBV-induced T cell immunity during EBV infection in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients through functional characterization and next generation sequencing technologies to characterize the immune EBV-induced T cell network on single cell level. Finally, analyses parameters will be translated to patients receiving EBV-specific T cell transfer aiming at improving adoptive anti-EBV T cell therapy concepts.
DFG Programme
Collaborative Research Centres
