Scientists develop a new method to study the molecular characteristics of T cells
UT Southwestern scientists have developed a new method to study the molecular characteristics of T cells, critical immune cells that recognize and attack invaders in the body such as viruses, bacteria, and cancer.
The approach, described today in the journal
Nature Methods, enables researchers to more easily analyze the roles of T cell receptors (TCRs) - the molecules on the surfaces of T cells that are responsible for recognizing pathogens.
This could lead to a better understanding of how T cells work as well as new ways to harness T cells to fight disease.
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IMAGE: The above illustration, in the center, shows activation of T cell immune response with the interaction of MHC-II (red) with the T cell receptor (TCR, blue), and also CD4 (light. view more
Credit: Art purchased from Alamy and modified by Dr. Tao Wang.
DALLAS - Jan. 6, 2020 - UT Southwestern scientists have developed a new method to study the molecular characteristics of T cells, critical immune cells that recognize and attack invaders in the body such as viruses, bacteria, and cancer.
The approach, described today in the journal
Nature Methods, enables researchers to more easily analyze the roles of T cell receptors (TCRs) - the molecules on the surfaces of T cells that are responsible for recognizing pathogens.
Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases
Plants are constantly exposed to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Thus, scientists continue to develop tools that help improve the field of plant breeding. These new tools and practices are referred to as plant breeding innovations, which include both precision IT-based tools and new molecular breeding techniques.
Precision breeding tools merge innovative digital devices like sensors, detectors, and robotics with management technologies for precise and more efficient production system control.
1 New molecular breeding techniques use gene-editing tools such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), and homing endonucleases or meganucleases.
Columbia researchers have created a new technology using synthetic llama antibodies to prevent specific proteins from being destroyed inside cells. The approach could be used to treat dozens of diseases, including cystic fibrosis, that arise from the destruction of imperfect but still perfectly functional proteins.
In many genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis, mutated proteins are capable of performing their jobs but are tagged for destruction by the cell’s quality control mechanisms.
Henry Colecraft (left) and Scott Kanner (photo by Diane Bondareff)
“The situation is analogous to ugly fruit,” says Henry Colecraft, PhD, the John C. Dalton Professor of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, who led the research. “Shoppers reject fruit that doesn’t look perfect, even though ugly fruit is just as nutritious. If mutated proteins in cystic fibrosis can escape the cell’s quality control mechanisms, they work pretty well.”