# The role of endothelial and T cells during infection of the vascular compartment

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $201,250

## Abstract

Project Summary
There are over 10 trillion endothelial cells (EC) that line the vasculature of the human body and these are
an important replicative niche for a subset of viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens. Consequently, it
makes sense that the immune system has mechanisms to monitor this extensive network for signs of
infection. While it has been proposed that activated EC have an important role in mediating resistance to
these organisms this is an idea that has been difficult to test in vivo because of: 1) lack of tractable in vivo
systems to modify EC immune functions 2) the size of and dynamic flow within the vascular system that
hinders the detection of rare immune processes and 3) a lack of understanding of whether there are T cells
specialized to operate in this environment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9847938
- **Project number:** 5R21AI139890-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTOPHER A HUNTER
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $201,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-08 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9847938

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9847938, The role of endothelial and T cells during infection of the vascular compartment (5R21AI139890-02). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-26 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/9847938. Licensed CC0.

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