Grant alert – GAČR

The Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) has announced the results of its Standard Grant Scheme for 2025. Among the newly supported projects is also our project, carried out in collaboration with Martin Schwarzer from the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Nový Hrádek, titled:

How Antigen-Presenting Cells Orchestrate the Transformation of Helper T Cells into Cytotoxic Intraepithelial Lymphocytes?

The project focuses on the long-known fact that a subset of Intraepithelial Lymphocytes, which are a type of white blood cell, originates from naïve Helper T cells.  These helper cells, as the name suggests, are primarily intended to support and navigate the immune response against pathogens. It is known that some of the originally helper cells acquire cytotoxic capabilities in order to become intraepithelial lymphocytes. 

What is not yet known, however, is the exact mechanism of how these cells develop and what signals they require for their transformation. The main goal of the project is therefore to identify the antigen-presenting cells and signals that regulate the development of this specific subgroup of intraepithelial lymphocytes. This research is also significant from a clinical impact perspective. If successful, it will allow us to find ways to precisely convert helper lymphocytes into cytotoxic lymphocytes and utilize them in new therapies against chronic infections or malignant tumor growth.