Early cellular immune responses to EBV

描述(由申请者提供)：本建议书概述了一项为期5年的儿科传染病学术生涯发展培训计划。应聘者已完成儿科住院医师培训、分子和细胞生物学博士培训以及传染病研究员培训。她现在正在通过独特的跨部门资源和专业知识的混合来提高她的科学技能。 该候选人的目标是通过整合EBV免疫学研究和结构化课程来提高病毒学和细胞免疫学领域的科学知识，从而掌握与病毒有关的细胞免疫学。著名的EB病毒病毒学家乔治·米勒博士将指导候选人的科学发展。为了加强经验，一个由备受尊敬的免疫学家组成的咨询委员会将研究细胞免疫学的不同方面，将提供科学和职业指导。 候选人的研究将检查在EBV初次感染的早期阶段和在控制EBV免疫个体中潜伏感染的B细胞生长的早期阶段的免疫反应。这些问题将使用候选人开发的相关和独特的模型实验系统来解决。目标是：1.确定在初次感染期间对EBV-LCL的初始反应中重要的细胞，以及在EBV血清阳性的个体中防止潜伏感染的B细胞的生长。2.确定应答细胞对LCL是否具有细胞毒作用，并对其杀伤机制进行初步探讨。3.利用外源分子对免疫反应的组成和性质进行实验调节。这项研究将首次让人们得以一窥免疫系统和EBV之间最早的相互作用，而不需要修改或放大免疫反应。这也有望提高对EBV淋巴增生性疾病的了解，并具有潜在的诊断和治疗意义。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal outlines a 5-year training program for the development of an academic career in Pediatric Infectious Disease. The candidate has completed residency training in Pediatrics, Ph.D. training in Molecular and Cell Biology, and fellowship training in Infectious Disease. She is now in the midst of enhancing her scientific skills through a unique blend of interdepartmental resources and expertise. The candidate's goal is to develop a command of cellular immunology as it relates to viruses by integrating EBV immunology research and a structured curriculum to enhance scientific knowledge in the fields of both virology and cellular immunology. Dr. George Miller, a renowned EBV virologist will mentor the candidate's scientific development. To enhance the experience, an advisory committee of highly respected immunologists studying diverse aspects of cellular immunology will provide scientific and career guidance. The candidate's research will examine the immune responses in the early stages of primary EBV infection and in the early stages of control of outgrowth of latently infected B cells in EBV-immune individuals. These questions will be addressed using a relevant and unique model experimental system that the candidate has developed. The goals are: 1. To identify the cells important in the initial response to EBV-LCL during primary infection and for the prevention of outgrowth of latently infected B cells in EBV seropositive individuals. 2. To determine if the responding cells are cytotoxic to LCL and characterize the mechanism of cell killing. 3. To experimentally modulate the composition and nature of the immune response by using exogenous molecules. This study will, for the first time, allow glimpses into the earliest interactions between the immune system and EBV without modification or amplification of the immune response. It is also expected to enhance the understanding of EBV lymphoproliferative diseases and have potential diagnostic and therapeutic implications.