The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $1,189,919 Project Grant under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to the Regents of the University of Minnesota, Office of Sponsored Projects Administration. The grant, with a project period from July 1, 2024 to May 31, 2029, will support research to understand how the thymus achieves tolerance to transiently expressed self-antigens during immune-activated states like inflammation and wound repair. The research aims to: 1) test if thymic interferon signaling provides T cell tolerance to interferon-stimulated self-antigens, 2) determine why interferon-deficient mice have thymic selection defects, and 3) assess if interferon-licensed B cells select regulatory T cells that regulate humoral immune responses. This work is expected to provide a mechanistic understanding of how innate immune activation in the thymus shapes the T cell repertoire and promotes tolerance to self-antigens in immune-activated states, which is important for understanding autoimmune disease etiology.
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