T cells at the nexus of inflammation-driven heart failure | 26CVD04
- Javid MOSLEHI, University of California, San Francisco (USA)
- Burkhard LUDEWIG, 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)
Recent progress in the field of cardiology has demonstrated that several human heart conditions are caused by specific cells of the immune system called T cells. In these diseases, T cells mistakenly recognize the heart as a target and attack it, causing inflammation and, in some cases, heart failure. However, we still do not know precisely which heart proteins trigger these harmful immune responses. As a result, current treatments rely on broad immune suppression, which can leave patients vulnerable to infections and other side effects. The CoeurTCR network was formed to solve this problem. Our team is uniquely diverse, bringing together cardiologists who care for patients with inflammatory heart disease, basic immunologists who study T cell biology, and structural biologists and protein chemists who use artificial intelligence (AI) to design new therapeutic molecules. These experts do not typically work together, but by uniting their complementary skills, we aim to tackle a challenge that no single discipline could solve alone.
Our goal is to identify the specific heart molecules that trigger harmful T cell responses and to understand how these immune cells cause heart injury. Using advanced technologies and the diverse and complementary expertise of our team members, we strive for three ambitious goals. Specifically, we will: (i) identify the T cells that are activated in the heart and cause disease, (ii) identify the exact molecules that drive those T cells to attack the heart, and (iii), use artificial intelligence (AI) to design new proteins that directly block immune cells from recognizing the heart, thereby reducing heart inflammation. This project will provide a deep molecular understanding of how the immune system attacks the heart muscle. In addition, this project will create new avenues to diagnose and directly treat the root causes of specific heart conditions.