# Eradication of clonally expanded CD4+ T cells

> **NIH NIH R21** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $245,625

## Abstract

Project Summary
Clonal expansion is a process where latently infected CD4+ T cells proliferate in
response to their cognate antigen. It is thought that this process contributes significantly
to the size of the HIV reservoir and therefore disrupting this mechanism could have a
huge impact on the number of latently infected cells. We observed a significant decline
in the number of expanded CD4+ T cell clones in an elite suppressor who received
chemoradiation for lung cancer and we hypothesize that we can recapitulate this in vitro
by stimulating CD4+ T cells with a combination of cognate antigen to induce
proliferation, and either chemotherapeutic or antiproliferative agents that would
selectively kill the dividing antigen-specific CD4+ T cells. If successful, a two-step
process of vaccination of individuals with cognate antigen and short term treatment with
chemotherapeutic or antiproliferative agents may be part of a strategy to reduce the size
of the reservoir.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10548015
- **Project number:** 1R21AI172542-01
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JOEL N BLANKSON
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $245,625
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-05-13 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10548015

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10548015, Eradication of clonally expanded CD4+ T cells (1R21AI172542-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10548015. Licensed CC0.

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