# Investigating the requirement of the commensal microbiota for long term T cell immunity

> **NIH NIH R21** · CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $250,500

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The commensal microbiota inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract and other mammalian mucosal
surfaces. plays fundamental roles on the induction, training and function of the host immune
system, but the exact mechanisms that regulate these interactions are not fully understood.
Understanding these mechanisms is a crucial step towards designing new therapeutic
approaches to correct immune dysfunction caused by dysbiosis and potentially other conditions.
Our initial studies show that alterations of the intestinal microbiota induced by oral administration
of antibiotics selectively disrupt long-term maintenance of antigen-specific memory CD4+T cells
primed in untreated mice, and impairs secondary responses to infection. In addition, we found
that treatment of mice with antibiotics is associated with reduced expression of the cytokine IL-
15, which is required for maintenance of memory T cells. Together, these results led us to
hypothesize that the commensall microbiota regulates memory T cell responses by
stimulating the expression of factors that promotes differentiation and/ or maintenance of
antigen-specific memory T cells. In this application, we will test this hypothesis. The specific
aims proposed are 1) Identify mechanisms underlying the requirement of the intestinal
microbiota for T cell memory and 2) Determine if antibiotic treatment alters memory T cell
responses in human subjects. We anticipate that these studies will shed light on the
mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between the commensal microbiota and the immune system
and may inform the design of new and improved vaccine strategies

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10132236
- **Project number:** 5R21AI151987-02
- **Recipient organization:** CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Gislaine A Martins
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $250,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-03-24 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10132236

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10132236, Investigating the requirement of the commensal microbiota for long term T cell immunity (5R21AI151987-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10132236. Licensed CC0.

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