The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) was awarded a $1,410,154 Project Grant under the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279). The grant, awarded on September 30, 2024, supports a research project titled "Impacts of Drug Abuse-Mediated Inflammatory Perturbations on Affinity Maturation of Anti-CD4 Autoantibodies and Poor Immune Reconstitution from ART in HIV."
The key objectives of this project are to: 1) determine the mechanisms of affinity maturation and CD4 recognition for anti-CD4 autoantibodies with antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity in HIV-infected drug users, and 2) examine how drug use-mediated B cell perturbations contribute to anti-CD4 autoantibody production and HIV immunopathogenesis. The project involves collaborations between MUSC and subrecipients at Columbia University's Health Sciences Division to conduct structural and bioinformatic analyses of the anti-CD4 autoantibodies.
The project aims to develop a better understanding of how substance use disorders impact the development of pathogenic autoantibodies and immune recovery in people living with HIV, with the goal of informing new therapeutic approaches to improve CD4+ T cell counts and clinical outcomes.