{"684045":{"#nid":"684045","#data":{"type":"event","title":"BioE PhD Defense Presentation- Sydney Wimberley","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvisor:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EJulie Champion, Ph.D. (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Tech)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJohn Blazeck, Ph.D. (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Tech)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVida Jamali, Ph.D. (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Tech)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EManu Platt, Ph.D. (NIH|NBIB, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMark Prausnitz, Ph.D. (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Tech)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEngineering protein nanocages for Influenza and Chlamydia Vaccines\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecombinant protein subunit vaccines overcome challenges faced by traditional whole pathogen vaccines, including preservation of antigen structure and directing both a humoral and a cellular immune response towards specific epitopes. However, the immune system has evolved to recognize highly repetitive antigens presented on pathogen surfaces, not soluble antigens. To induce robust immune responses, antigen display platforms have been designed to mimic pathogen antigen display. There are many different types of protein antigen displays, such as crosslinked nanoparticles and de novo self-assembling proteins. This thesis explores the use of self-assembled protein nanocages (SAPN) to improve humoral immune responses for a universal influenza vaccine and to develop and evaluate a Chlamydia vaccine\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E SAPNs are comprised of coil peptides that self-assemble into a cage. For vaccine SAPNs, fusion proteins were made of coiled coils and antigens. For influenza and Chlamydia SAPNs, combinations of antigens from the pathogens were showcased on the outside or the inside of the cage. The SAPNs were used to investigate antigen display and the factors that can affect immune responses, including accessibility and selection. This includes how a glycine linker can improve accessibility of a small antigen on the cage to induce a significant humoral response, and how selection of antigens may have a greater impact on immune responses than display. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the modular nature of\u0026nbsp; SAPNs with the ability to display both viral and bacterial antigens.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBioE PhD Defense Presentation- \u0026nbsp;\u0022Engineering protein nanocages for Influenza and Chlamydia Vaccines\u0022 -Sydney Wimberley\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022Engineering protein nanocages for Influenza and Chlamydia Vaccines\u0022"}],"uid":"27917","created_gmt":"2025-08-21 17:32:59","changed_gmt":"2025-08-21 17:32:59","author":"Laura Paige","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2025-08-28T10:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2025-08-28T12:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2025-08-28T12:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2025-08-28 14:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2025-08-28 16:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2025-08-28 16:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"5029 EBB","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"65448","name":"Bioengineering Graduate Program"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"172056","name":"go-BioE"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}