An αβ T-cell receptor is composed of two highly variable protein chains, the α
chain and the β chain. However, based only on bulk DNA or RNA sequencing it is
impossible to determine which of the α chain and β chain sequences were paired
in the same receptor.
In this episode, Kristina Grigaityte talks about her analysis of 200,000
paired αβ sequences, which have been obtained by targeted single-cell RNA sequencing.
Kristina used the power law distribution to model the T-cell clone sizes,
which led her to reject the commonly held assumptions about the independence
of the α and β chains. We also talk about Bayesian inference of power law
distributions and about mixtures of power laws.
Links:
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon.
