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Vijayanand, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Vijayanand, P..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

FitHiChIP: Identification of significant chromatin contacts from HiChIP data

Here we describe FitHiChIP (github.com/ay-lab/FitHiChIP), a computational method for identifying chromatin contacts among regulatory regions such as en-hancers and promoters from HiChIP/PLAC-seq data. FitHiChIP jointly models the non-uniform coverage and genomic distance scaling of HiChIP data, captures previously validated enhancer interactions for several genes including MYC and TP53, and recovers contacts genome-wide that are supported by ChIA-PET, pro-moter capture Hi-C and Hi-C data. FitHiChIP also provides a framework for differential contact analysis as showcased in a comparison of HiChIP data we have generated for two distinct immune cell types.

bioinformatics

No cell is an island: circulating T cell:monocyte complexes are markers of immune perturbations

Our results highlight for the first time that a significant proportion of cell doublets in flow cytometry, previously believed to be the result of technical artefacts and thus ignored in data acquisition and analysis, are the result of true biological interaction between immune cells. In particular, we show that cell:cell doublets pairing a T cell and a monocyte can be directly isolated from human blood, and high resolution microscopy shows polarized distribution of LFA1/ICAM1 in many doublets, suggesting in vivo formation. Intriguingly, T cell:monocyte complex frequency and phenotype fluctuate with the onset of immune perturbations such as infection or immunization, reflecting expected polarization of immune responses. Overall these data suggest that cell doublets reflecting T cell-monocyte in vivo immune interactions can be detected in human blood and that the common approach in flow cytometry to avoid studying cell:cell complexes should be revisited.

immunology

Evidence that recurrent Group A streptococcus tonsillitis is animmunosusceptibility disease involving antibody deficiency and aberrant Tfh cells

One Sentence SummaryRecurrent tonsillitis is a multifactorial disease associated with an aberrant tonsillar germinal center response to Group A Streptococcus.\n\nABSTRACTRecurrent Group A Streptococcus (GAS) tonsillitis (RT) is a common indication for pediatric tonsillectomy. Strep throat is highly prevalent among children; yet, it is unknown why some children develop RT. To gain insights into this classic childhood disease, we performed phenotypic, genotypic, and functional studies on pediatric GAS RT and non-RT tonsils. We observed significantly smaller germinal centers in GAS RT tonsils, and underrepresentation of GAS-specific germinal center follicular helper (GC Tfh) CD4+ T cells. RT children exhibited reduced antibody responses to GAS virulence factor SpeA. Risk and protective HLA Class II alleles for RT were identified. Finally, SpeA induced granzyme B+ GC Tfh cells in RT tonsils that had capacity to kill B cells. Together, these observations suggest that RT susceptibility can occur due to genetic differences that can result in aberrant GC Tfh cells and poor antibody responses to GAS SpeA.

immunology