Project Details
Projekt
Understanding the autoimmune mechanisms in myasthenia gravis
Applicant
Dr. Miriam Fichtner
Subject Area
Clinical Immunology and Allergology
Term
from 2019 to 2022
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 428295369
Autoimmunity is a malfunction of the immune system where an immune response develops against one’s own tissues. Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system causes impairment of neuromuscular function by producing autoantibodies that interrupt signaling from nerves to muscles. Due to this interruption patients experience muscle weakness and fatigability.The human immune system is comprised of trillions of circulating cells. Only a tiny fraction directly contributes to autoimmune disease. In MG, those that contribute are a subset of B cells, which produce the autoantibodies. Separating those cells from the enormous population of immune cells is a highly sought-after goal because their defects can be directly investigated, and they are an extremely valuable therapeutic target.I will use a novel approach established in the lab of my PI, Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor, at Yale for isolating the specific B cells that cause MG. I will investigate these cells to determine how they produce disease-causing autoantibodies and how they behave during treatment and disease exacerbation. Overall, this work will (i) further our understanding of how MG initiates and progresses, and (ii) support the application and development of therapeutics that both repair dysfunction and specifically target disease-causing cells.
DFG Programme
Research Fellowships
International Connection
USA
