Starting point for treatment in severely infected children – the practice of healing

Adenovirus: a promising target identified for treatment

Adenoviruses are a group of pathogens that can cause a variety of diseases, including those affecting the respiratory, gastrointestinal, conjunctiva, and corneas. These viruses are highly contagious and resilient. Researchers have now identified a promising target for the treatment.

Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI) conducted a collaborative study using a 3D organoid model of the intestine to examine how natural killer cells (NK cells) recognize and kill intestinal epithelial cells infected with human adenovirus (HAdV). Scientists have succeeded in identifying a new target that could be a potential starting point for immunotherapy for children with severe adenovirus infection after stem cell transplants.

Identification and killing of infected intestinal epithelial cells

like in one Message Of HPI, human adenoviruses are a major cause of disease in children and immunocompromised persons, especially after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantations.

Effective treatments for hepatitis C virus infection without serious side effects are not currently available. Against this background, researchers from HPI’s ‘Viral Immunology’ and ‘Viral Transformation’ departments have now used a 3D organoid model of the intestine to investigate how natural killer cells recognize and kill HCV-infected intestinal epithelial cells.

The scientists demonstrated that a cascade is triggered in infected gut cells that enables improved detection and killing by KIR3DS1+ NK cells.

The researchers also discovered that children who received donated KIR3DS1+/HLA-Bw4+ receptor cells during stem cell transplantation are better protected from the severe course of HAdV infection.

The results of the study were published in the journalImmunologyChest

A promising target for treatment development

Dr. said. Doctor. Madeleine Altfield Bonders of HPI and III. Medical Clinic of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

“Our results suggest that the KIR3DS1/HLA-F axis could be a promising target for developing a treatment for severe HAdV reactivation after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children,” says the scientist.

Several scientific institutions participated in the HPI-led study, including Utrecht University (Netherlands) and Associated University Medical Center (UMC), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), and Princess Maxima Children’s Oncology Center (Netherlands). ) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and Children’s Hospital Altona. (ad)