May 31, 2019
Dr. Badovinac received a two-year NIH R21 award entitled “Differentiation of Pathogen-Specific Memory CD8 T Cell Responses” from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. This study will investigate memory CD8 T cell differentiation in vivo using the Collaborative Cross (CC) mouse model.
Commercially available CC mouse lines, derived using a funnel breeding strategy with eight founder strains, contain defined single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions and deletions that result in vast genetic diversity between lines. These lines are similar to outbred cohorts (including humans); however, the progeny within established lines are inbred allowing for precise analyses, reproducibility and comparative studies. Thus, the goal of this proposal is to start decoding variability in pathogen-specific memory CD8 T cell differentiation observed in genetically distinct hosts using CC mouse lines. We will test the overall hypothesis that naïve-to-memory CD8 T cell differentiation after infection is complex and potentially controlled by host specific biological and/or genetic factors.