Award
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 1R21AI197490-01
Cholesterol Metabolism in Regulatory T cell Function
Recipient
Utah State Higher Education System--University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Award Amount
$423,500.00
Ceiling
$423,500.00
Awarded
January 30, 2026
Identifier
1R21AI197490-01
Research project funded by NIAID to study cholesterol metabolism in regulatory T cells to improve their function, potentially benefiting autoimmune and inflammatory disease treatments.
Description
The project aims to understand how cholesterol metabolism impacts Treg cell membrane composition and TCR activation, with the goal of manipulating lipid metabolism to enhance Treg function. The research will investigate the role of the regulator Spring1 in cholesterol metabolism and assess the impact of exogenous cholesterol uptake on Treg suppressive activity. This work has implications for autoimmune, inflammatory, cancer, metabolic, and heart diseases.