Cheleka Mpande - IUIS Beijing ICI 2019 Presentation

Cheleka Mpande was one the members who represented the Division of Immunology at the 17th International Congress of Immunology held in Beijing in October. Cheleka's presentation was entitled "Investigating the Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific CD4 T cell memory profiles: A comparison of immune responses between recent and remote M.tb infection"

Cheleka Mpande - Investigating the Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific CD4 T cell memory profiles: A comparison of immune responses between recent and remote M.tb infection

One of the World Health Organisation strategies to combating the Tuberculosis epidemic is providing preventative TB therapy to high-risk individuals. Recent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection is associated with higher risk of progression to disease, compared to remote, established infection. However, targeting high-risk individuals is challenging because current immunodiagnostic tools fail to distinguish these infection states. Cheleka Mpande presented part of her research findings that aimed at determine memory, activation and functional kinetics of M.tb-specific CD4 T cells during different stages of infection. In her presentation she showed that recent M.tb infection was associated with a shift from a quiescent to an activated and highly differentiated memory phenotype, which could distinguish individuals with recent or established M.tb infection.