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SUMMARY:Bioinformatic analysis of T-cell antigen receptors as a novel diag
 nostic test for coeliac disease/ gluten sensitivity - Dr Elizabeth Soilleu
 x (University of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20210120T140000Z
DTEND:20210120T150000Z
UID:TALK151054@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Samantha Noel
DESCRIPTION:Coeliac disease presents with very variable symptoms\, which o
 ccur when gluten is eaten.  It affects at least 1% of the UK population an
 d more than 2/3 affected individuals remain undiagnosed\, often because cu
 rrent tests give uncertain or false negative results or are unacceptable t
 o patients\, due to the requirement prior to testing to eat gluten\, which
  makes them ill.  Coeliac disease is caused by T-cell mediated injury to t
 he epithelial lining of the intestine\, with many of the T-cells respondin
 g to gluten. Holistic analysis of the T-cell receptor nucleic acid/ amino 
 acid sequences in patient samples allows us to compare the T-cell populati
 ons\, to determine whether they are responding to similar or different imm
 unological targets. Provided there is a sufficiently sized training set fo
 r this artificial intelligence based\, bioinformatic approach\, patient sa
 mples can be separated by diagnosis\, regardless of whether the patient ha
 s eaten gluten prior to the test. This approach can also be used in the di
 agnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and a range of other immune-mediated
  conditions\, as well as to determine immune status to antigens post-vacci
 nation. We are currently testing its applicability to the determination of
  an individual’s COVID-19 immune status. Analysis of T-cell receptors is
  a powerful and widely used tool. The bioinformatic approaches used will b
 e discussed.\n
LOCATION:Please get in touch at compbiomphil@maths.cam.ac.uk for joining i
 nformation.
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