Scientists have long sought to better understand the immune responses of the human body that occur during various diseases, including cancer and inflammatory diseases.
In a recent study at the University of Missouri, Emma Teixeiro, an associate professor in the MU School of Medicine, and her team analyzed how immunological memory — the memory that the body’s immune system retains after an infection or vaccination that helps protect against reinfection – – is generated and maintained, as well as the role that inflammation plays in forming this immunological memory.
“Our immune system defends us against disease, but it’s a very complicated system with a lot of interactions, and if things get out of regulation it can actually play a role in causing disease,” Teixeiro said, who works at the NextGen Precision Health Institute on the MU campus. “Thus, our research is focused on better understanding how these immune responses can be generated and controlled, in particular by examining the critical role that T cells play, as T cells help protect the body against infections and may play a role in the fight against cancer.”
Using a mouse model, the researchers created various strains of pathogenic bacteria that increased levels of inflammation through the stimulator of interferon genes – or STING – proteins inside T cells. many scientists assumed that this increase in inflammation would lead to a stronger immune response and therefore stronger immunological memory, Teixeiro and his team discovered the opposite: immunological memory was reduced.
“Some scientists in the field believe that STING activation can be targeted to improve cancer vaccines or immunotherapies, so gaining a basic understanding of all of the interaction mechanisms at play is critical to reducing the risks of unintended consequences or harmful side effects,” Teixeiro said. “We want to better understand how to regulate immunological memory, which has implications for potential vaccines or immunotherapies that trigger T cells in a way that hopefully boosts long-term memory, so that our bodies are protected against disease over time.”
Although his research is fundamental in nature, Teixeiro’s discoveries have the potential to contribute to the development of more effective treatments to help patients suffering from cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in the childhood (SAVI), asthma and other chronic inflammatory syndromes.
“The pursuit of knowledge is what fuels my curiosity as a scientist,” Teixeiro said. “While there are still more questions to answer, this research is a small step in the right direction, and I’m proud to be part of it.”
“STING controls T cell memory fitness during infection through intrinsic T cell and Indoleamine-pyrrole 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) mechanisms” was recently published in PNAS. The study co-authors are Michael Quaney, Curtis Pritzl, Rebecca Newth, Karin Knudson, Vikas Saxena, Caitlyn Guldenpfennig, Diana Gil, Chris Rae, Peter Lauer, Mark Daniels and Dezzarae Luera.