The project aims at an in-depth study of the anti-infectious responses’ basic mechanisms in CF disease. The authors have already described to what extent the inhibition of the transglutaminase 2 (TG2) protein – which plays an important role in regulating the molecular interactions inside the cells – increases the antibacterial response in CF animal models. They will now study to what extent TG2 regulates another important anti-infective protein, namely STING protein, which in turn stimulates the production in the cells of the so-called interferons, proteins’ fragments with a defensive action. They will perform both in vitro and ex vivo studies, the latter in nasal epithelial cells from CF patients, as well as in vivo analysis in CF mouse models infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium abscessus. The goal is to design new strategies for limiting bacterial infections through specific modulation of the immune pathways in the cells of CF patients.