T cell receptor-driven immunotherapy for acute and chronic myocardial inflammatory disease | 26CVD04
- Javid MOSLEHI, University of California, San Francisco (USA)
- Burkhard LUDEWIG, Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen/University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland)
- Pilar MARTIN, National Center for Cardiovascular Research (Spain)
- Pilar ALCAIDE, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (USA)
- Sine HADRUP, Technical University of Denmark (DTU) (Denmark)
- Ton SCHUMACHER, Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands)
- Timothy Patrick JENKINS, Technical University of Denmark (DTU) (Denmark)
- Josiah GERDTS, University of California, San Francisco (USA)
Many inflammatory heart diseases occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the heart. In these conditions, specialized immune cells called T cells recognize heart proteins as targets, causing inflammation that can lead to heart failure. Although current treatments can suppress these harmful immune responses, they do so by broadly weakening the immune system, which may increase the risk of infections and other side effects. The CoeurTCR network brings together cardiologists, immunologists, and experts in protein engineering and artificial intelligence to understand why these destructive immune attacks occur.
Our goal is to identify the heart molecules that trigger disease-causing T cells and to determine how these immune cells damage the heart. By combining unique patient cohorts, advanced immune profiling technologies, and artificial intelligence-guided protein design, we aim to develop a new generation of highly specific therapies that block harmful immune responses while preserving normal immune function. Ultimately, CoeurTCR seeks to transform the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory heart disease by targeting its root causes rather than its consequences.