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Infection-induced maternal immune activation and its implications on the infant’s immune system development in a Ghanaian birth cohort
Pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa face high infection risks. We will investigate how maternal immune activation due to infections influences fetal immune development in a large cohort of women in rural Ghana, an area endemic for malaria and other vector-borne diseases like flaviviruses. Our results will support tailored interventions to protect newborns in these regions.
Hypothesis
Team
PD Dr. rer. nat.
Thomas Jacobs
Principal Investigator
Dr. rer. nat.
Rosa Gálvez
Principal Investigator
Stefan Strauss
PhD Student
M.Sc.
Margarida Araújo
FACS Facility Manager
Ulrike Richardt
Technical Assistant
Project-related publications
Muscate, F. et al. HVEM and CD160: regulators of immunopathology during malaria blood-stage. Front. Immunol. 9, 2611 (2018).
Kaminski, L. C. et al. Cytotoxic T cell-derived granzyme B is increased in severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Front. Immunol. 10, 2917 (2019).
Hadjilaou, A. Brandi J, Riehn M, Friese MA, Jacobs T. Pathogenetic mechanisms and treatment targets in cerebral malaria. Nat. Rev. Neurol. 19, 688–709 (2023).
Abel, A, Steeg C, Aminkiah F, Addai-Mensah O, Addo M, Gagliani N, Casar C, Yar DD, Owusu-Dabo E, Jacobs T, Mackroth MS. Differential expression pattern of co-inhibitory molecules on CD4+ T cells in uncomplicated versus complicated malaria. Sci. Rep. 8, 4789 (2018).
Mackroth, MS, Abel A , Steeg C , Schulze Zur Wiesch J, Jacobs J. Acute malaria induces PD1+CTLA4+ effector T cells with cell-extrinsic suppressor function. PLoS Pathog. 12, e1005909 (2016).
Brockmann, L, Soukou S, Steglich B, Czarnewski P, Zhao L, Wende S, Bedke T, Ergen C, Manthey C, Agalioti T, Geffken M, Seiz O, Parigi SM, Sorini C, Geginat J, Fujio K, Jacobs T, Roesch T, Izbicki JR, Lohse AW, Flavell RA, Krebs C, Gustafsson JA, Antonson P, Roncarolo MG, Villablanca EJ, Gagliani N, Huber S. Molecular and functional heterogeneity of IL-10-producing CD4+ T cells. Nat. Commun. 9, 5457 (2018).
Brandi, J. Lehmann C, Kaminski LC, Schulze Zur Wiesch J, Addo M, Ramharter M, Mackroth M, Jacobs T, Riehn M. T cells expressing multiple co-inhibitory molecules in acute malaria are not exhausted but exert a suppressive function in mice. Eur. J. Immunol. 52, 312–327 (2022).
Zhang, Z. Mateus J, Coelho CH, Dan JM, Moderbacher CR, Gálvez RI, Cortes FH, Grifoni A, Tarke A, Chang J, Escarrega EA, Kim C, Goodwin B, Bloom NI, Frazier A, Weiskopf D, Sette A, Crotty S. Humoral and cellular immune memory to four COVID-19 vaccines. Cell 185, 2434–2451 (2022).
Yu, ED, Wang E, Garrigan E, Goodwin B, Sutherland A, Tarke A, Chang J, Gálvez RI, Mateus J, Ramirez SI, Rawlings SA, Smith DM, Filaci G, Frazier A, Weiskopf D, Dan JM, Crotty S, Grifoni A, Sette A, da Silva Antunes R. Development of a T cell-based immunodiagnostic system to effectively distinguish SARS-CoV- 2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination status. Cell Host Microbe 30, 388–399 (2022).
Gálvez, RI, Martínez-Pérez A, Escarrega EA, Singh T, Zambrana JZ, Balmased A , Harris E, Weiskopf D. Frequency of dengue virus-specific T cells is related to infection outcome in endemic settings. medRxiv. Preprint at https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.05.24302330 (2024).