ESR08 – Bechara Mfarrej

ESR 8 Title: Treg cell therapy for AID
Research Objectives:
Description of work: The ESR will expand and differentiate T regulatory (Treg) cells with different approaches and test the therapeutic potentials of these Treg cells in murine models of autoimmunity and pancreatic islet transplantation and humanized mouse models. Specifically: Treg type 1 (Tr1) cells will be generated by using a specific subset of dendritic cells (DC-10) which selectively induces the differentiation of Tr1 cells from naïve CD4+ T cells via an HLA-G and ILT4-mediated mechanism or by stable lentiviral vector-mediated transduction of IL-10 into Ag-specific autoreactive T cells.  Naturally occurring CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg will be expanded polyclonally ex vivo in the presence of rapamycin or generated in an antigen-specific manner by stable lentiviral vector-mediated transduction of FoxP3 into antigen-specific autoreactive T cells. Treg will be tested in vivo for their capacity to prevent/reverse autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and graft rejection after pancreatic islet transplantation. In parallel, in vitro generated/expanded human Treg will be tested in humanized mouse models of arthritis and IBD.Personal Information Sheet ESR08 – Bechara MfarrrejPresentation ESR08 Bechara Mfarrej