(251g) Calibrating Immunometabolism to Treat Diseases

Immunometabolism reprogramming is involved in progression, induction and therapy of several diseases such as cancer, infections, autoimmune disorders. Notably, modulation of immunometabolism can be performed by delivery of cell permeable metabolites, enzymatic inhibitors or through gene editing. For example, metabolites provided systemically may improve immune cell function. Importantly, these strategies can be targeted toward both innate and adaptive branch of the immune system to generate effector functions. In this presentation, I will introduce strategies for modifying immunometabolism of dendritic cells, macrophages, and T cells for supporting the induction of immune responses in rheumatoid arthritis, sepsis, multiple sclerosis, and melanoma (skin cancer), with special emphasis on melanoma treatment. Specifically, these projects are geared toward developing immunotherapies by directly modulating the metabolism of immune cells to develop robust immune responses in mouse models. Overall, these projects will demonstrate the importance of metabolite modulation in reprogramming immune responses.