# Targeting the IL-2/regulatory T cell axis for autoimmune disease prevention in realistic animal models

> **NIH NIH R01** · BENAROYA RESEARCH INST AT VIRGINIA MASON · 2022 · $679,264

## Abstract

Project Summary
Pathological autoimmunity occurs when the immune system attacks healthy tissue, causing immunopathology
and tissue dysfunction. There are over 80 recognized autoimmune diseases that afflict 25-50 million
Americans, and this represents a significant financial and public health burden. The experimental mouse has
been a standard model of autoimmune research for several decades. However, although research in mice has
led to most of the fundamental insights into the development and function of the mammalian immune system,
restoration of self-tolerance has been relatively easy to achieve in mouse models of autoimmune disease and
many of these findings have been difficult to translate into effective therapies for human autoimmunity. This is
likely due to 1) Fundamental differences in immune pathways responsible for tolerance induction in mouse vs.
human, and 2) Differences in the immune environment between carefully housed and monitored experimental
mice and the more heterogeneous and daunting immune challenges faced by humans, who are exposed to
continual acute and chronic infection along with an array of environmental exposures that can damage tissues
and provoke immune reactions. This highlights the need to study immune tolerance in animal models that
more closely resemble human immune systems, and account for each of these important factors. The goal of
this proposal is to use novel and realistic mouse models that more closely mirror human immune function to
study tolerance induction via manipulation of the IL-2/TR cells axis, and identify critical parameters that
influence the outcome of therapies aimed at preventing or ameliorating autoimmune disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10307124
- **Project number:** 5R01AI136475-05
- **Recipient organization:** BENAROYA RESEARCH INST AT VIRGINIA MASON
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel J Campbell
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $679,264
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-12-20 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10307124

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10307124, Targeting the IL-2/regulatory T cell axis for autoimmune disease prevention in realistic animal models (5R01AI136475-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10307124. Licensed CC0.

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