Project Grant R01AI187164

This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), is providing $553,342 to the Regents of the University of Minnesota to conduct research focused on understanding how the CD4+ T cell immune response tolerates food proteins, and how this process is disrupted in celiac disease. The key products and services to be delivered through this 5-year award are: 1) Using gene knockout and cell transfer approaches to investigate how exposure to food peptides bound to MHC class II molecules leads to the formation of regulatory T cells and a distinct population of hyporesponsive T cells that resemble follicular helper T cells; and 2) Leveraging a mouse model of celiac disease to determine how gliadin peptide-specific T cells become pathogenic, and testing if peptide immunotherapy and an IL-2 mutein can prevent or treat the disease. Completion of this research is expected to fill critical knowledge gaps about CD4+ T cell tolerance of food antigens and potential therapies for celiac disease.