Mayar Mossad Allam
BME PhD Defense Presentation

Date: 2024-06-07
Time: 10am-12pm
Location / Meeting Link: EBB 5029, https://gatech.zoom.us/j/92217113882?pwd=NTJ2REYvNkVBakVxckZFcEx5MEgrZz09

Committee Members:
Ahmet F. Coskun (Advisor); Ankur Singh; Shu Jia; Wilbur Lam; Kavita Dhodapkar


Title: Deciphering spatial immune interactions in health and disease using multiplexed imaging tools

Abstract:
High-parameter imaging is an essential tool to study human diseases and biosystems. Traditional imaging techniques are prone to variability, subjective interpretation, and low signal-to-noise ratio, limiting comprehensive studies of human tissues. This includes deciphering the tumor microenvironment in cancers. Lung cancer remains to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide with poor prognosis and low drug response rates. This necessitates a deeper understanding of the immune and the stromal components of patients’ tumors. Similarly, the immune-rich microenvironment in the secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs), such as tonsils, lymph nodes, and intestinal Peyer’s patches remain poorly understood. Despite the significance of these organs in adaptive immune response, understanding the positional interactions and their crosstalk among cell types in these tissues is still lacking. This study aims to bridge these gaps by mapping the immune microenvironment in lung tumors and SLOs using high-multiplexed imaging technologies like imaging mass cytometry (IMC) and cyclic immunofluorescence (CycIF). IMC enables simultaneous visualization of 40+ biomarkers using metal-tagged antibodies, while CycIF visualizes 30+ markers through antibody labeling cycles. We leveraged these technologies to fulfill the following aims: 1) Quantifying major immune phenotypes in lung cancer including macrophages, T-cells, and B-cells in relation to the disease clinical outcomes. 2) Investigate the immune-rich microenvironment in secondary lymphoid organs that leads to B-cell differentiation, follicle development, and germinal center response. 3) Build a dynamic 2D cell culture systems to study the interactions between lung cancer cells and major T-cell phenotypes at the proteomic and the metabolic level. These aims could help identify unique cellular phenotypes and their crosstalk which can open the door for more drug discovery.