Institute: Imperial College London
Characterisation of Natural Killer cells and Myeloid cells after experimental SARS-CoV-2 and influenza infection
Innate immunity in humans is critical for the immediate response to infection but poorly understood in humans. Human infection challenge (HIC) uniquely enables the study of innate immune responses that occur early after virus exposure, which is a crucial period in the course of an infection that can determine what happens later (i.e. by fighting off infection, or altering its severity with asymptomatic, mild or more severe disease).
At Imperial College London, we have collected samples from SARS-CoV-2 and influenza (H3N2 and H1N1) HIC studies. Early findings from these studies have identified markers on immune cells and signalling proteins released into body fluids that distinguished participants who were given the virus but who remained uninfected. To further investigate these markers and their effects, we plan to analyse innate cells (natural killer cells, dendritic cells and monocytes) after both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza challenge using existing samples, detailing how their characteristics alter over the course of infection and these are associated with later changes in the immune response. Thus, deeper understanding of these early immune mechanisms will inform further challenge studies currently being designed and increase our understanding of how these might be harnessed for future vaccine and therapeutic development.