# Mapping Immune Responses to CMV in Renal Transplant Recipients

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2021 · $1,524,094

## Abstract

OVERALL: Mapping Immune Reponses to CMV in Renal Transplant Recipients
SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a member of the Herpes virus family, has evolved alongside humans for thousands of
years with a complex balance of latency, immune evasion, and transmission. While up to 70% of humans
worldwide have evidence of CMV infection and seroprevalence approaches 100% in certain areas, healthy
people show little to no clinical symptoms of primary infection. CMV disease is rarely observed in immune
competent hosts because of innate immune responses and constant surveillance by natural killer (NK) and T
cells that cooperatively control CMV. However, CMV is one of the most problematic pathogens in the
immunocompromised host, after solid organ and stem cell transplantation causing increased risk of graft
dysfunction, mortality and graft loss. We propose to study the innate and adaptive immune responses to CMV
in immunocompromised solid organ transplant recipients using a high-throughput systems biology approach,
carefully curated clinical phenotypes and novel statistical and computational approaches to: a) profile innate
and adaptive immune responses during primary CMV infection and define the effects of CMV infection on the
development of alloimmune responsiveness and transplant rejection; b) determine the role of NK cells in CMV
reactivation and chronic transplant rejection and c) define the effects of CMV infection on the development of
chronic allograft injury. The long-term goal of the proposed research is to develop a detailed molecular map of
the cross-talk between the innate and adaptive immune response in primary and latent CMV infection in the
transplant recipient. Detailed insights into the interaction of the virus with the immune system stand to generate
concepts for more adequate vaccine strategies, risk assessment for CMV infection to better understand the
immune system and to define the interplay of CMV infection and organ transplant injury.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10225355
- **Project number:** 5U19AI128913-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** ELAINE F REED
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,524,094
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10225355

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10225355, Mapping Immune Responses to CMV in Renal Transplant Recipients (5U19AI128913-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10225355. Licensed CC0.

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