The DC D-CFAR would like to congratulate Imtiaz A Khan, PhD for his new NIH award, "CD8+ T-cell Exhaustion During Toxoplasmosis."
Dr. Khan and his colleagues will study 1.) the kinetics and patterns of multiple inhibitory receptors expressed by CD8+ T cells from infected animals to provide important information about the antibody cocktail needed for reversing the exhaustion so reactivation of latent infection is prevented; 2.) the underlying mechanism responsible for CD8+ T cell exhaustion in mice carrying chronic Toxoplasma infection will be evaluated and the role of IL-21 producing CD4+ T cells in programming of CD8+ T cells for long-term functionality will be determined and 3.) the role of CD40 agonist treatment as a supplemental therapy to antibody blockade of inhibitory molecules will be assayed. Information generated from these studies will be highly beneficial to develop therapeutic regimen for preventing toxoplasmic encephalitis which continues to be a serious problem for HIV infected populations.