Van Grevenynghe Julien

Biography

Julien van Grevenynghe receives award from the Banting Research 5 September 2017 Identify unique pathways for elite controllers, who naturally coexist with HIV-1 Without medical treatment, the majority of people infected with HIV develop acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) within a few years. This syndrome is related to a weakening of the immune system caused by a gradual degeneration of T lymphocytes, including those of the central memory whose immunological functions are crucial. Indeed, T-cells help defend the body against different infections, notably by creating a memory to remember how to fight the invaders. My laboratory is also interested in innate immune responses, which represent the first line of defense of the organism, since the virus also causes the loss of antiviral responses induced by the immediate recognition of foreign molecules (DNA, RNA, Even under treatment, the defense system of infected patients continues to display immune and functional impairments. This poses a major obstacle to current vaccine strategies and the eradication of the virus. However, a rare group of infected people, called elite controllers, have the unique ability to naturally control HIV-1 and preserve an effective defense system without resorting to powerful pharmaceutical cocktails with unwanted side effects. As a result, these elite controllers represent the ideal study group to illustrate how proteins are responsible for maintaining a defense system and for non-progression to disease. The work of this axis aims at demonstrating the proteins characterizing the unique profile of elite controllers, which will contribute to the development of new clinical strategies aimed at coexistence with the virus.

Research Interest

The main objective of my laboratory is to strengthen the molecular knowledge of the pathways responsible for the establishment of innate antiviral and memory-specific responses to chronic infections caused by HIV-1. Ultimately the idea is to develop new therapeutic tools specific to these key pathways in order to strengthen the immune system in chronically infected patients or in the context of vaccine studies. More precisely, the work carried out falls under two main lines of research: 1. Characterize the physiological molecular mechanisms responsible for viral persistence and immune functions of memory T-CD4 cells Understanding the generation, maintenance and immune functions of T-CD4 memory cells and particularly "memory centers" (T CM ) is essential to ensure the success of vaccine strategies and long-term protection in humans against several viruses, including HIV-1.