Career Development Projects

CD002 Miura

Coronaviruses, including the virus responsible for the 2002-2003 epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, infect cells that line the respiratory tract (epithelial cells).  Disease symptoms during coronavirus infection can result from host immune responses to the virus, which can damage the gas exchange surface of the lung.  The goals of this project are to define the mechanisms whereby coronavirus-infected lung epithelial cells recruit immune cells (neutrophils) to the lung and the functions of neutrophils during infection.  Understanding these processes is critical for the design of effective vaccination and therapeutic strategies for human coronavirus infections.