Our immune systems constantly respond to viral infections throughout life, but scientists still do not fully understand how these past infections influence the body’s ability to recognize and fight cancer later on.
Dr. Pereira da Costa studies how infections reshape immune responses in tissues such as the lung. Her earlier work demonstrated that viral infections can dramatically reorganize dendritic cell networks and influence the strength and long-term durability of T cell immunity.
Her project focuses on endogenous retroelements (EREs), ancient remnants of viral DNA that make up nearly 40% of the human genome. Although these sequences are usually inactive, they can become reactivated during infections and in many cancers, producing viral-like proteins that may be recognized by immune cells.
Dr. Pereira da Costa proposes that viral infections may “train” T cells to recognize these ERE-derived proteins, creating long-lasting immune memory that later helps the body detect tumors expressing the same targets. Using mouse models of respiratory infection and lung cancer, she will investigate how these ERE-specific immune responses develop, how long they persist, and whether they improve tumor control or responses to immunotherapy.
This work could uncover a previously unrecognized connection between infection history and cancer immunity and open new avenues for developing immune-based cancer therapies.
Mentor
Yasmine Belkaid, PhD
Projects and Grants
Endogenous retroelements in infection-driven cancer immunosurveillance
