Do innate-like B cell responses contribute to neonatal immunity?

先天性 B 细胞反应是否有助于新生儿免疫力？

• 批准号: MR/X000257/1
• 负责人: Deena Gibbons
• 金额: $ 69.65万
• 依托单位: King's College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FX000257%2F1
• 关键词: Do; innate; like; cell; responses

The body protects itself from infection via its immune system. We do not completely understand how the immune system works in newborns (either those born at term or prematurely) but we do know that infections are common in this vulnerable patient group and that they can often result in severe illness and death. A better understanding of how this system functions from birth may inform future clinical practice by developing methods to boost the immune response and thereby protect babies. We have already established that T cells, one type of white blood cell that helps protect the body from infection, behave very differently in neonates. We have now identified that a second type of white blood cell, the B cell, that helps protect the body by making antibodies, also exist in different forms in human infants.In this proposal, we want to scrutinise the biology of this B cell population that is enhanced in neonates and determine its role in protecting babies from infection. We have already collected blood from preterm babies (with their parent's permission and at a time when blood was being taken for routine care) and have samples from babies who were well and from babies during periods of infection. This unique resource will allow us to study the peripheral immune system in neonatal health and disease and look at how these B cells respond in preterm infants. We can compare this to babies born at term by looking in cord blood samples. We will also investigate what these B cells develop into, what type of antibodies they make, and when their predominance starts to decline. We will do this by looking in blood samples taken from babies at 1 and 3 months of age. This may potentially provide a therapeutic target to enhance the neonatal immune system and ultimately reduce morbidity and mortality from infection.

身体通过免疫系统保护自己免受感染。我们并不完全了解新生儿（无论是足月出生还是早产）的免疫系统如何工作，但我们确实知道感染在这个脆弱的患者群体中很常见，并且通常会导致严重的疾病和死亡。更好地了解该系统从出生起如何发挥作用，可以通过开发增强免疫反应的方法来指导未来的临床实践，从而保护婴儿。我们已经确定，T 细胞（一种有助于保护身体免受感染的白细胞）在新生儿中的表现非常不同。我们现在已经发现，第二种类型的白细胞，即 B 细胞，通过产生抗体来帮助保护身体，在人类婴儿中也以不同的形式存在。在这项提议中，我们希望仔细研究这种在新生儿中增强的 B 细胞群的生物学特性，并确定其在保护婴儿免受感染方面的作用。我们已经从早产儿身上采集了血液（经过其父母的许可，并且在采集血液进行常规护理时），并从健康婴儿和感染期间的婴儿身上采集了样本。这一独特的资源将使我们能够研究新生儿健康和疾病中的外周免疫系统，并观察这些 B 细胞在早产儿中的反应。我们可以通过查看脐带血样本将其与足月出生的婴儿进行比较。我们还将研究这些 B 细胞发育成什么、它们产生什么类型的抗体以及它们的优势何时开始下降。我们将通过检查从 1 个月和 3 个月大的婴儿身上采集的血液样本来做到这一点。这可能提供增强新生儿免疫系统并最终降低感染发病率和死亡率的治疗靶点。