Associate ProfessorPatrick Bertolino

Project Opportunities

Title: Unravelling mechanisms determining the balance between tolerance and immunity in the liver

Summary of opportunity:

Role of primary T cell activation in the liver in CD8 T cell tolerance

Opportunity synopsis:

The research of our group is particularly focused on the liver, an organ with unique tolerogenic properties. In many species, liver transplants are spontaneously accepted across a complete MHC mismatch and some viral infections, such as the one by the Hepatitis C virus, become chronic suggesting that the virus exploit this liver property to persist in the host. The mechanisms involved in these processes remain unknown. The broad aims of our group are to understand the interactions between T lymphocytes and hepatic cells, the parameters that determine the balance between tolerance and immunity in the liver as well as those leading to chronic hepatitis.

----------Current Research Projects----------

Our studies are currently focused on four main aspects:

Understanding which parameters regulate the fate of T cells activated by liver cells.

Investigating the mechanisms responsible for the clearance of recently activated T cells by hepatocytes.

Exploring solid organ transplantation in mice to understand the factors leading to spontaneous liver graft acceptance and, investigating mechanisms determined in these models in humans receiving liver transplants.

Understanding immune responses to the hepatitis C virus in individuals undergoing liver transplantation for hepatitis C virus-related liver disease, and how these responses influence the clinical outcome of liver transplantation in this population.