Date of Award

Spring 5-9-2022

Document Type

Honors Project

University Scholars Director

Dr. Christine Chaney

First Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Jenny Tenlen

Keywords

gene expression, peanut allergy, CD154+, CCR6, CRTH2, heatmap

Abstract

Peanut allergies can have severe and life-threatening complications. By understanding the biology of individuals struggling with this disease, better treatments can be developed. This project explores the possibility of two phenotypically distinct cell types within CD154+ cell types in patients with peanut allergy. Previous studies show that there is a Th2 cell subpopulation associated with allergies, and within effector CD4+ memory populations two distinct phenotypes have been found. This project expands upon this research at the genetic level and through bioinformatic analyses, including the production of heatmaps, the project has found evidence for differing gene expression in two cell subpopulations. One group, CRTH2+ cell type, exhibits expression patterns similar to the Th2 cell subpopulation while the other, CCR6+ cell type, expresses genes that are known to have a Th17-like or regulatory function. This is significant because very few of the genes associated with the CCR6+ cell type have been well studied, indicating a potential gap in research that may broaden our understanding of this disease.

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