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Start of funding 01.01.2025
HMOs and HTLV-1: Impact of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) on human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) mother-to-child transmission
PD Dr. Dr. Andrea Thoma-Kress
Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Virologisches Institut
Prof. Dr. Lars Bode
University of California, San Diego
Department of Pediatrics, Human Milk Institute
The oncogenic retrovirus human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is transmitted from mother to child predominantly via breast milk, but not all mothers transmit the virus. The team of Andrea Thoma-Kress could show that human skim milk can inhibit cell-to-cell transmission of HTLV-1 to CD4+ T cells and they identified two groups of donors, inhibitors and non-inhibitors of HTLV-1 transmission. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) have already shown antiviral activity against other viruses and, as a genetically influenced factor, are a candidate for the antiviral effect. To identify possible differences between the inhibitor and non-inhibitor groups, this project will now analyze the HMO composition of breast milk donations in the laboratory of Lars Bode (UCSD, San Diego). Furthermore, a transfer of knowledge will take place, and techniques for the isolation of pure HMOs from breast milk will be learned to investigate the influence of pure HMOs on HTLV-1 transmission.