Brenchley/Betts

Project Title

Functional analysis of virus-specific CD8 T cells in primate tissue

NIH Mentor

Jason Brenchley

Penn Mentor

Michael Betts

Project Details

Antigen-specific CD8 T cells exert anti-viral activity via numerous mechanisms. Some viruses, such as HIV and SIV, are present in numerous anatomic sites around the body. We will use flow cytometric and next generation sequencing approaches to explore the functional capacity of antigen-specific CD8 T cells from humans and nonhuman primates across multiple anatomic sites and relate these to the degree of HIV and SIV replication in each respective anatomic site. We expect this analysis will lead to novel therapeutic interventions to improve the functional capacity of antigen-specific CD8 T cells and decrease HIV/SIV replication.