# Intestinal T cells and microbiota as therapeutic targets in autoimmune uveitis

> **NIH NIH R01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $489,657

## Abstract

Project Summary
Chronic autoimmune uveitis represents a medical management conundrum, which left untreated, is a
significant cause of blindness in the US and worldwide. Yet due to an incomplete understanding of its
pathogenesis, treatment has often required use of non-specific anti-inflammatory agents that can have
untoward side effects. Emerging evidence links the intestinal microbiota to extraintestinal autoimmune
diseases like uveitis, providing new clues into pathogenesis, and novel avenues for therapeutic targeting. Our
goal is to investigate how the intestinal microbiota can be manipulated to re-establish intestinal and thus
systemic immune homeostasis that has gone awry during the course of autoimmune uveitis. To do this, we are
using a quintessential T-cell mediated model, experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). We will utilize two
different interventions to alter the intestinal microbiota, antibiotics and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolites
of intestinal bacterial fermentation of dietary fiber, in EAU. Enhancement of intestinal Tregs (cells that usually
suppress the immune system) by these microbiota-altering interventions will be tested by adoptive transfer of
Tregs and in vitro Treg suppression assays. The impact of microbiota-altering interventions on intestinal
immune cell migration to peripheral lymphoid tissues and the eye during EAU will also be investigated. Direct
microbiota effects on enhancement of intestinal Treg abundance and uveitis severity will be tested by fecal
microbial transplantation from antibiotic or SCFA-pre-treated animals. These results are expected to yield
novel insights into autoimmune uveitis pathogenesis as well as lay groundwork for new treatment strategies
targeting the intestinal microbiota to re-establish immune homeostasis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10275312
- **Project number:** 1R01EY032882-01
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Phoebe Lin
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $489,657
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10275312

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10275312, Intestinal T cells and microbiota as therapeutic targets in autoimmune uveitis (1R01EY032882-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10275312. Licensed CC0.

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