Andy Tu (Blainey & Love Labs)

Understanding T Cell Diversity in Peanut Allergy

Peanut allergy is a type 1 hypersensitivity condition driven by a combination of T cells and B cells. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a promising treatment for peanut allergy, but long-term clinical outcomes have been variable, and the cellular mechanism of the therapy is still debated. Here, we propose using T cell receptor sequencing to characterize the dynamics of T cell repertoires in patients undergoing peanut OIT. In particular, we seek to understand the importance of T cell clonal responses in peanut OIT.

Asmamaw Wassie (Boyden Lab)

Nanoscale, Multiplexed, Biomolecular Mapping in Brain Circuits

Nanoscale imaging throughout brain circuits in a multiplexed fashion would enable the molecular characterization of cell types, synapses, and signaling pathways. Although many multiplexing strategies exist, it remains difficult to use such technologies in large 3-D tissues. Recently we developed an approach to physically magnify tissues, which we call Expansion Microscopy (ExM). ExM isotropically magnifies tissues, enabling super-resolution imaging on fast diffraction-limited microscopes. Here we present methods using this principle that enable the multiplexed, and nanoscale imaging of transcripts in brain tissue sections.