Immunometabolism in Infection, Cancer and Autoimmunity

Recommended Prerequisites

Biochemistry of Metabolism; Organic Chemistry; Biochemistry of Proteins, Nucleic Acids and Lipids (or equivalent)

Teaching Methods

ectures - 24 hours; two blocks of 2 hours per week/6 weeks. Theoretical-Practical Classes - 12 h; one block of 2 h per week/6 weeks; Practical Classes - 15 h; one block of 3 h per week/5 weeks, aiming at the development of a project in Immunometabolism.

Learning Outcomes

To exert their protective functions against pathogens and tumors immune cells must be able to adapt to the distinct micro-environments found in the different organs and tissues. Thus they have to be capable of modulating their metabolism in order to retain full functional activity even in situations of low nutrients and/or oxygen. For the last few years analysis of metabolic remodeling in the immune system has gained a great interest, adding new information on potential mechanisms responsible for (dys)regulation of the immune response. Moreover, the availability of new drugs to modulate cancer-cell metabolism opens an interesting perspective to repurpose such drugs to treat chronic inflammation. In this course we will discuss the latest findings about the metabolic requirements of immune cells, how they change during differentiation and the immune response.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

L1: Metabolic pathways and enzymes in the context of immunology

L2: Experimental techniques to study immunometabolism

L3: Metabolic remodeling during hematopoiesis

L4: Metabolic remodeling during myeloid cell and lymphoid cell development

L5: Metabolic changes during dendritic cells’ responses

L6: Metabolic regulation of NK cells’ function

L7: Metabolic control of monocytes and macrophages immune responses

L8: Metabolic switch and T lymphocyte differentiation and responses

L9: Antibody production and changes in B lymphocyte metabolism

L10: Metabolic requirements of regulatory B and T lymphocyte and epigenetic control of immunometabolism

L11: Therapeutic metabolic remodeling of immune cells.

L12: Dietary therapeutic strategies to curb chronic inflammation: diets, “superfoods”, and dietary supplement

Head Lecturer(s)

Rui de Albuquerque Carvalho

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Project: 30.0%
Laboratory work or Field work: 30.0%
Exam: 40.0%

Bibliography

1. "Essential Aspects of Immunometabolism in Health and Disease", by Niels Olsen Saraiva Camara, Jose C Alves-Filho, Pedro Manoel Mendes de Moraes-Vieira, Vinicius Andrade-Oliveira; Springer Publishing (1^st edition 2022).

2. "Immunometabolism : Methods and Protocols", by Suresh Mishra; Springer Publishing (1^st Edition 2020).

3. "Cancer Immunotherapy Principles and Practice", by Lisa Butterfield, Howard Kaufman, Francesco Marincola, Paolo Ascierto, and Raj Puri; Springer Publishing (2^nd Edition, 2021).

4. O'Neill LA, Kishton RJ, Rathmell J. A guide to immunometabolism for immunologists. Nat Rev Immunol. 2016 Sep;16(9):553-65. doi: 10.1038/nri.2016.70.

5. Souto-Carneiro MM,…, Lorenz HM, Carvalho RA. Effect of Increased Lactate Dehydrogenase A Activity and Aerobic Glycolysis on the Proinflammatory Profile of Autoimmune CD8+ T Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020 Dec;72(12):2050-2064. doi: 10.1002/art.41420.