WEHI PhD Completion Seminar hosted by Professor Phil Hodgkin

Kenneth Wu

PhD Student – Hodgkin Laboratory, Immunity division, WEHI

Molecular and cellular calculation of lymphocyte population dynamics

Davis Auditorium

Join via TEAMS

Including Q&A session

Lymphocytes receive and process a diverse array of signals from antigen and other receptors to shape their response strength and fate choices. Combinations of these signals regulate outcomes ranging from rapid death to development of large differentiated clones. In our laboratory the Cyton theory of cellular mechanics is being developed to relate signal response calculation at multiple levels of scale using a Cellular Calculus. In my project I have examined a number of model signal integration systems used by B cells. To develop these concepts further, I first measured the calculation of combined signals on response parameters and then built on that solution to dissect the underlying molecular changes governing the proliferation and survival. My work has focussed on two complementary signalling systems: combined anti-CD40+CpG stimulation to study B-cell activation, and B-cell-receptor (BCR) stimulation to investigate responses associated with immune tolerance.

Together, my studies demonstrate how quantitative modelling can investigate signal integration across molecular and cellular scales. Although applied to the signalling systems examined in this study, the modelling approaches developed and refined here show potential for broader application to signal processing in other systems.

All welcome!