Understanding Immune System Changes in Health and Disease
Site-Specific Recombination in Human Health & Disease
This research aims to understand how our immune system's DNA changes to fight off germs and how errors in this process can lead to serious illnesses like B cell cancers.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Southern California NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11088755 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Our immune system creates a wide variety of antibodies to protect us from infections, a process that involves carefully rearranging DNA. This project focuses on the crucial, yet often unstable, steps where these DNA changes happen. By using new dynamic methods, we hope to better understand these unstable processes, which are linked to both inherited immune problems and acquired diseases like certain blood cancers. The insights gained could eventually help us develop better ways to create antibodies against dangerous viruses and bacteria, and improve our understanding of how B cell malignancies develop.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Patients with inherited immune disorders or B cell malignancies, particularly those involving V(D)J or class switch recombination pathways, could eventually benefit from this foundational research.
Not a fit: Patients seeking immediate new treatments or direct clinical interventions would not receive direct benefit from this basic science research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to a deeper understanding of how immune system errors cause diseases, potentially paving the way for new treatments for B cell cancers and improved antibody therapies.
How similar studies have performed: This work builds upon previous findings by the researchers regarding chromosome breaks in B cell malignancies, while introducing novel dynamic approaches to study unstable DNA intermediates.
Where this research is happening
Los Angeles, UNITED STATES
- University of Southern California — Los Angeles, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lieber, Michael R — University of Southern California
- Study coordinator: Lieber, Michael R
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.