EGF-R FOR IMMUNITY

Use of EGF-R antagonists for the treatment of chronic infections and tumor growth

Coordinatore	THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH    more  Organization address address: OLD COLLEGE, SOUTH BRIDGE city: EDINBURGH postcode: EH8 9YL contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Angela Cognome: Noble Email: send email Telefono: 441317000000 Fax: 441317000000
Nazionalità Coordinatore	United Kingdom [UK]
Totale costo	100˙000 €
EC contributo	100˙000 €
Programma	FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG
Funding Scheme	MC-CIG
Anno di inizio	2014
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2014-03-01   -   2018-02-28

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH  Organization address address: OLD COLLEGE, SOUTH BRIDGE city: EDINBURGH postcode: EH8 9YL contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Angela Cognome: Noble Email: send email Telefono: 441317000000 Fax: 441317000000	UK (EDINBURGH)	coordinator	100˙000.00

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'FoxP3 expressing regulatory T-cells play an important role in the induction of peripheral tolerance and the prevention of auto-immune responses. How the functionality of regulatory T-cells is regulated at the site of inflammation remains poorly understood. We just recently discovered that the functionality of regulatory T-cells is regulated via the EGF-R that is expressed by activated regulatory T-cells. In in vitro suppression assays the presence of the EGF-like growth factor Amphiregulin significantly enhanced the suppressive capacity of regulatory T-cells and, in vivo, Amphiregulin-induced signals enabled regulatory T-cells to induce tolerance against innocuous antigens. This effect was blocked upon application of EGF-R antagonists (Zaiss et al. 2013). Based on these findings, the objectives of this proposal are: 1.a) To determine the role of regulatory T-cells during tumor therapy; in specific during induced lymphopenia in the context of adoptive cell transfer (ACT) based tumor therapy. 1.b) To determine whether EGF-R inhibitors can suppress regulatory T-cell function such that they enhance the efficacy of ACT based tumor therapy? 2) To determine whether smallpox viruses use their virus-encoded EGF-like growth factors to enhance regulatory T-cell function, and thus as an immune escape mechanism? This will answer the question whether interference with regulatory T-cell function explains for the immune-stimulatory effect of EGF-R inhibitor treatment, during vaccinia virus infections. 3) To determine whether we can develop an EGF-R inhibitor that selectively targets regulatory T-cells, and thus keeps all other functions of the EGF-R, for example in tissue homeostasis, intact?

Taken together, this proposed project tests a novel therapeutic approach by which we expect to have hit a so far unrecognized, therapeutic “Achilles’ heel” of Tregs, i.e. via the regulation of Treg functionality by EGF-R ligands.'