Phase I
NK cells are a population of innate lymphocytes that attack virally-infected targets through a variety of mechanisms, including the secretion of antiviral cytokines and direct cell-cell cytotoxicity. In mice, after exposure to virus a subset of NK cells take on an enhanced functional profile (generate stronger responses to secondary exposure to NK cells). If you wish to compare the gene expression patterns that are characteristic of NK cells (pathogen-experienced/memory) that have encountered pathogens previously to those that have not interacted with pathogen before (naïve)—in particular,if you wish to identify novel genes that may be involved in conferring the enhanced functional phenotype. How would you go about identifying genes or transcripts that are characteristic of or differentially expressed by pathogen-experienced NK cells? Which methods/techniques you would use to ensure the best chances for their success, why the methods chosen are the ‘right’ ones, the ways these methods can be sequentially deployed to complement and confirm the findings from one assay to another.
Please compose a completed page describing how you would approach this problem with bioinformatic and systems biology techniques.
Please compose a completed page describing how you would approach this problem with bioinformatic and systems biology techniques.
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