Federal Grant Award Summary

The University of Pittsburgh received a $135,586 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) for the period April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2028. The project, titled "Generation of a Non-Cleavable Allele of PIK3IP1/TRIP," supports basic immunological research aimed at understanding the regulatory mechanisms of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling in T cells. The primary deliverable is the development and characterization of a protease-resistant variant of the transmembrane inhibitor of PI3K (TRIP) protein, engineered to prevent activation-induced cleavage by ADAM10/17 proteases, thereby enabling more precise investigation of TRIP's role in T cell activation and immune function.

This research addresses a critical methodological challenge in immunology: the rapid, proteolytic downregulation of TRIP from T cell surfaces during activation has complicated efforts to isolate and study TRIP's direct effects on T cell receptor signaling, cellular metabolism, and gene regulation. By generating a non-cleavable allele, the research provides investigators with a stable molecular tool to conduct more definitive comparisons between TRIP-expressing and TRIP-knockout T cells, advancing the scientific understanding of PI3K regulation in immune responses with potential implications for T cell-mediated immunity, infection clearance, and anti-tumor responses.