Research Group
- Dr. Julie Dechanet, Principal Investigator
- Dr. Jean-Francois Moreau, Co-Investigator
- Dr. Pierre Merville, Co-Investigator
- Dr. Vincent Pitard, Associate
- Dr. Xavier Lafarge, Associate
Location
- Bordeaux University 2, Bordeaux, France
Title
- Analysis of the mechanisms used by the immune system to fight against the Cytomegalovirus
The cytomegalovirus (CMV) is widely encountered in human and usually not dangerous for healthy individuals. In contrast, primo-infection or reactivation of this virus in immune-suppressed individuals such transplanted or AIDS patients, induce a severe disease. The aim of this project is to understand the mechanisms evolved by the human immune system to fight against this virus, in order to find new therapeutical strategies to prevent this disease in immunosuppressed patients. For the first time, we recently observed that particular cells of the blood (gamma-delta T lymphocytes) could be involved in the response of the immune system directed against CMV in renal transplanted patients. We now want to investigate the specific interactions between these cells and the CMV to understand how they can help to eliminate this virus.
