Zhiyong Ma

TLR2 ligands as immunomodulators and therapeutics for chronic hepatitis B virus infection

The significance of the TLR-mediated innate immune response as a defense against microbial infections and its link to the adaptive immune responses has been recognized during the past few years. For hepatitis B virus infection, several recent studies indicated that HBV replication and transcription can be inhibited by different TLRs ligands in vitro and in vivo, and these inhibitions mainly depend on type I IFN induction. Previously, we have shown that activation of innate immune responses by TLR ligands LPS can inhibit WHV replication through IFN-independent pathways in primary woodchuck hepatocytes. Thus, it is likely that an activation of innate immune responses including the stimulation of the type I IFN and pro-inflammatory cytokines production may contribute to the control of HBV infection, either by the direct antiviral activity of type I IFN or by enhancing specific immune responses to HBV.
In this project, the activation of innate system by TLR2 ligands and its antiviral activity in vivo will be investigated in the woodchuck model. We suppose that the different ligands of TLR2 can stimulate the antiviral responses to suppress HBV replication and transcription. We also want to investigate the combine therapeutic strategy using antiviral drugs, DNA vaccines and TLR ligands for chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

1st supervisor: PD. Dr. rer. Nat. Mengji Lu
2nd supervisor:

Institute:
Department of Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen

Telephone: +49 (0)201 - 723 - 3585
E-mail: mzy2001pl@163.com