Development of Nano-Chemical Compounds to Stimulate Gene Expression Responsible for Immune Response and Enhance the Efficiency of Living Cells Using Modern Genetic Modification Techniques

The immune system is an intricate network of messenger molecules, cells, and organs that serves as the body’s first line of defence against diseases. The immune responses, which are tightly controlled by gene regulatory networks, may be triggered by nano-chemical compounds. Availability of modern genetic modification tools enables investigations into the modulation of gene expression and associated immune outputs in living cells. The proposed project examines a novel concept to decode the functionality of nano-chemical compounds in the context of gene expression modification and consequent immune response regulation. The aim is to illuminate the correlation between nano-chemical compounds and living-cell gene-expression circuitry with the objective of evaluating how to effectively alter the immune response in living cells. Gene expression denotes the process by which information encoded in genes is converted into a substance. Various factors including metabolic cues, environmental stimuli, cell-cell communications, epigenetic changes, hormones, and pathogens influence gene-expression patterns. In turn, changes in gene expression control the immune system’s behaviour, which may yield either innate and/or adaptive immune responses by modifying immunity genes. Living cells express transcripts and proteins related to genes and create a specific phenotype or state based on these biogenic activities. Due to the plasticity and flexibility of gene expression, a particular physiological change cannot be associated exclusively with a specific gene. Perturbations within the gene-regulatory network, however, inevitably lead to distinctive expression changes of a characteristic group of genes, and even a small number of such perturbations may guide the system towards a change of state or phenotype. Accordingly, exploring those types of nano-chemical compounds that influence gene expression and the regulatory networks underlying such events could enhance knowledge of the interaction between chemical compounds and cell circuitries and expand opportunities to manipulate cellular functions.