Dit ga je doen

This fully funded 36-month postdoc project aims to test whether targeting the aminopeptidase ERAP2 can tackle EBV infection in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and is a joint effort of our group at the Department of Ophthalmology of the UMC Utrecht and the ErasMS team at Erasmus MC Rotterdam. You will use state-of-the-art molecular and cellular techniques available at the Kuiper group and its collaborating labs to elucidate how ERAP2 shapes pathogenic immune responses and if this can be corrected with small molecular inhibitors.

This project aims to test whether targeting ERAP2 can selectively remove pathogenic EBV-infected B cells in MS. Almost everyone with MS carries EBV, and EBV-infected B cells help drive disease. ERAP2 shapes how these B cells present viral peptides to NK cells and CD8+ T cells.