Metabolic regulation of the virus-specific T cell response in viral hepatitis (21)

• Subject Area: Immunology ; Gastroenterology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272983813

T cells require energy to fight and eliminate viral infection. In chronic hepatitis virus infection, virus-specific CD8 T cells become “exhausted” and are unable to clear the infection. We found that this exhaustion is connected to a metabolic dysfunction with reduced glycolysis, reduced enolase expression and dysregulated mitochondria. In this project we will analyse if related metabolic dysregulation occurs in HBV/HDV coinfection, whether it can be reversed by antiviral therapy, and investigate the epigenetic mechanisms. Moreover, we will explore if microanatomical liver niches regulate T cell dysfunction in different stages of chronic HBV infection.

• 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 Head: Professor Bertram Bengsch, Ph.D.