Contribution of adipose tissue compartments to oral vaccine response

• Grant number: 23/04035-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Applied Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Denise Morais da Fonseca
• Grantee: Guilherme William da Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06881-5 - Gut-lung axis: understanding the immune dialogue between barrier tissues in the development of disease, AP.JP2

Abstract

The intestinal mucosa is one of the largest areas of the body exposed to the external environment, where it needs to deal with microbial or diet-derived antigens. At the same time that it operates in the absorption of nutrients, it elaborates responses against pathogens and affords immunological tolerance to innocuous antigens aiming maintenance of homeostasis. Studies using models of infection or chronic inflammatory bowel disease indicate that other mechanisms can act to ensure homeostasis in mucosal tissues, such as adjacent visceral adipose tissues. Adipose compartments, such as mesentery and omentum, also act as memory cells reservoir after gastrointestinal infection episodes. This protective profile in the adjacent adipose tissues could act after oral immunization events. Results of our group and from the literature show that there is an inefficacy of oral vaccines during environmental enteropathy, but with the permanence of the elaboration of memory lymphocytes in the mesenteric lymph nodes. Therefore, in the present project, the goal is to elucidate the adipose compartments as a reservoir of memory cells derived from vaccines, especially oral vaccines, and to verify the protective role of the adipose compartments after oral immunization in homeostasis and in the context of environmental enteropathy.