Engineering T cells with enhanced ligand discriminatory powers

The discriminatory power of a surface receptor quantifies its ability to distinguish between lower-affinity and higher-affinity ligands. The T cell receptor has evolved enhanced discriminatory powers to distinguish between self and foreign antigen ligands but the mechanisms are unclear. Here, I will use a synthetic biology approach to understand these mechanisms by (1) engineering bispecific reagents that target different T cell surface proteins to identify those that regulate the discrimination power of native TCRs and by (2) engineering synthetic enhanced discriminatory receptors (EDRs).

This project addresses the BBSRC Responsive Mode Priority of "Synthetic Biology", whose scientific scope
includes engineering cells with novel biological parts and systems.