宾夕法尼亚大学免疫学家和合作者获得1000万美元NIH更新，以

StephenW

Penn Immunologist and Collaborators Receive $10 Million NIH Renewal to Study Potential of Cancer-Focused Therapy on Infectious Diseases
Using PD-1 Blockade, Targets Include Hepatitis B and Flu Viruses

Article ID: 711618

Released: 19-Apr-2019 10:05 AM EDT

Source Newsroom: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

   
Newswise — PHILADELPHIA—Three of the top-ten causes of death worldwide are infectious diseases, with billions of people harboring such potentially lethal pathogens as the hepatitis B virus, malaria, tuberculosis, the influenza virus, and HIV. Taking a creative approach to address this problem, Penn Medicine and colleagues at Oxford University and Massachusetts General Hospital have received an additional five-year round of funding totaling $10 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore using a promising cancer treatment to combat these dangerous viruses.

E. John Wherry, PhD, the chair of Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, will lead the Penn team in the collaboration to study the impact of an immunotherapy called PD-1 blockade on viral immunity in humans. This grant renewal is part of the NIH’s Cooperative Centers for Human Immunology consortium.

The programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) is located on an immune cell’s surface and plays a key role in restraining T cell activity. While this control of immune response can prevent autoimmune diseases, it can also block the immune system’s ability to kill cancer cells. PD-1 inhibitors can thwart PD-1, ramping up the immune system’s capacity to attack tumors.

“These medications have also shown early promise against infectious diseases,” said Wherry. “But there is almost no information in humans about how targeting PD-1 affects immunity to viruses and vaccines.”

The new grant aims to address this crucial gap in knowledge to improve prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. The primary goal is to apply PD-1 blockade in hepatitis B virus infection and flu vaccination, identifying innate and adaptive immune effects controlled by PD-1 signals in response to viruses and vaccines in people.

By studying humans, the new grant will seek to address a common challenge in basic biomedicine: Much research now only takes place in mice, making the translation of insights gained from animal studies to humans limited.  “Flu and other respiratory infections alone kill up to half a million people globally each year,” said Wherry. “Vaccines remain only partially effective, especially in the most vulnerable populations. Although we have learned a great deal about human immunology in the past several decades, we still have a long way to go.”

Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $7.8 billion enterprise.

StephenW

宾夕法尼亚大学免疫学家和合作者获得1000万美元NIH更新，以研究以癌症为重点的传染病治疗潜力
使用PD-1阻断，目标包括乙型肝炎和流感病毒

文章编号：711618

发行日期：2019年4月19日美国东部时间上午10:05

来源新闻室：宾夕法尼亚大学佩雷​​尔曼医学院

   
Newswise  -  PHILADELPHIA-全球十大死因中有三个是传染病，数十亿人拥有乙型肝炎病毒，疟疾，肺结核，流感病毒和艾滋病等可能致命的病原体。 Penn Medicine及其同事在牛津大学和马萨诸塞州综合医院采取了创造性的方法来解决这一问题，并从美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）获得了额外的五年资金，共计1000万美元用于探索使用有希望的癌症治疗方法。打击这些危险的病毒。

宾夕法尼亚大学佩雷​​尔曼医学院药理学教授E. John Wherry博士将带领宾大团队合作研究PD-1阻断免疫疗法对人类病毒免疫的影响。该补助金续签是NIH人体免疫学合作中心联盟的一部分。

程序性细胞死亡蛋白1（PD-1）位于免疫细胞表面，在抑制T细胞活性中起关键作用。虽然这种免疫反应的控制可以预防自身免疫性疾病，但它也可以阻止免疫系统杀死癌细胞的能力。 PD-1抑制剂可以阻止PD-1，提高免疫系统攻击肿瘤的能力。

“这些药物也显示出对传染病的早期承诺，”Wherry说。 “但人类几乎没有关于PD-1靶向如何影响病毒和疫苗免疫力的信息。”

新的补助金旨在解决这一重要的知识差距，以改善传染病的预防和治疗。主要目标是在乙型肝炎病毒感染和流感疫苗接种中应用PD-1阻断，鉴定PD-1信号控制的先天性和适应性免疫效应，以响应人类的病毒和疫苗。

通过研究人类，新的资助将寻求解决基础生物医学中的共同挑战：现在许多研究只发生在老鼠身上，使得从动物研究中获得的见解转化为人类有限。 “流感和其他呼吸道感染每年在全球造成多达50万人死亡，”Wherry说。 “疫苗只能部分有效，特别是在最脆弱的人群中。尽管过去几十年我们已经学到了很多关于人体免疫学的知识，但我们还有很长的路要走。“

宾大医药是世界领先的学术医疗中心之一，致力于医学教育，生物医学研究和卓越的患者护理相关任务。 Penn Medicine由宾夕法尼亚大学的Raymond和Ruth Perelman医学院（成立于1765年，作为全国第一所医学院）和宾夕法尼亚大学健康系统学院组成，它们共同组成了一个价值78亿美元的企业。