Scott Weber
Combating infectious disease with enhanced T cell memory
The following two aims are from my 2014-2015 MEG. We made great progress and completed
most of both Aim 1 and Aim 2. Details on the progress for each aim are described below.
Mentoring Environment
This MEG allowed me to expand the size of my lab and increase the
amount and quality of mentoring. I met with student each week in lab meeting as well as
individually. I also had each student email me a weekly update. Students were given
opportunities to do hands on work, be involved in the data analysis and presentation at local and
regional meetings.
BYU students involved in mentoring
Kemais Ehlers, Bryce Anderson, Kiara Vaden, Garrett
Hamblin, Deborah Johnson, Taylor Orton, Claudia Freitas, Niels Steadman, Kurt Williams,
Sheldon Myers, Brian Ballard, Carlee Larsen.
Aim 1. Determine role of helper T cell receptor affinity in memory cell response to
infection.
Hypothesis: The affinity of the T cell receptor for its stimulatory ligand is critical for the generation of a strong helper T cell memory response to infection and affects the level of T cell apoptosis.
Academic objectives for Aim 1
We are currently working on finishing up two manuscripts
based off of the data generated for Aim 1 with another planned for the future. These manuscripts
will be submitted this year. Six different BYU graduate and undergraduates have been directly
involved in these projects and presented their work at regional or national meetings.
* = BYU Undergraduate † = BYU Graduate Student
1. Freitas CT†, Williams KR*, and Weber KS. Calcium Signaling in T helper cell Primary and
Secondary Responses. Midwinter Conference of Immunologists. January 24-27 2015. Asilomar
California.
2. Johnson DK†, Persaud SP, Weber KS. Determining optimal TCR:pMHC avidity for CD4+ T cell
memory generation. 2015 Keystone Symposia on T cell regulation and effector function. March
29th – April 3rd 2015 Snowbird Utah
3. Hamblin G*, Freitas C†, Steadman N*, Williams K*, and Weber KS. Calcium Signaling in
Primary and Secondary Responses of Listeria specific T helper cells. Autumn Immunology
Conference 44th Annual Meeting. November 20-23rd 2015. Chicago Illinois Winner of an AAI
Undergraduate Award and a cash prize because Garrett’s abstract was scored as one of the best of
undergraduates presenting.
4. Hamblin G*, Freitas C†, Steadman N*, Williams K*, and Weber KS. Calcium Signaling in
Primary and Secondary Responses of Listeria specific T helper cells. 10th Annual Utah
Conference on Undergraduate Research. February 19th 2016. Salt Lake City. Utah
5. Vaden K† and Weber KS. Determining the optimal TCR:pMHC avidity for CD4+ T cell memory
generation. Midwinter Conference of Immunologists. January 23-26, 2016. Asilomar California.
6. Johnson DJ and Weber KS. Role of affinity for antigen and self in T cell activation
and memory generation. LDS Life Science Research Symposium. July 20-22nd 2016. Lehi Utah
Aim 2. Engineer high affinity T cell receptors fused to cytokines to improve memory
response. Hypothesis: Targeted application of pro-memory cytokines fused to high affinity T cell receptors to the site of infection will improve the memory response and provide a novel and
infection specific therapeutic.
Academic objectives for Aim 2: We have submitted a manuscript based off of the data
generated for Aim 2 with another planned for the future. These manuscripts will be submitted
this year. Six different graduate and undergraduates have been directly involved in these projects
and presented their work at four regional or national meetings.
* = BYU Undergraduate † = BYU Graduate Student
1. Hancock J*, Ehlers KB*, Orton T*, Persaud SP, and Weber KS. Engineering a Pathogen
Specific Single Chain T-Cell Receptor for Listeria monocytogenes. 8th Annual Utah Conference
on Undergraduate Research. February 28th 2014. Provo Utah
2. Ballard B*, Anderson BE*, Orton T*, Persaud SP, and Weber KS. Engineering a Stabilized
Single Chain T-Cell Receptor called LLO118 for use in Generating High Affinity T cell
Receptors. American Society for Microbiology Intermountain Branch Meeting. March 8th 2014.
Provo Utah
3. Hancock J*, Ehlers KB*, Orton T*, Persaud SP, and Weber KS. Engineering a Pathogen
Specific Single Chain T-Cell Receptor for Listeria monocytogenes. American Society for
Microbiology Intermountain Branch Meeting. March 8th 2014. Provo Utah
4. Johnson D†, Anderson BE*, Ehlers K*, and Weber KS. Engineering High Affinity T-Cell
Receptors Specific for Listeria monocytogenes. Midwinter Conference of Immunologists. January
24-27 2015. Asilomar California.
5. Anderson BE*, Ehlers KB*, Johnson DK†, Persaud SP, and Weber KS. Engineering High
Affinity T-Cell Receptors Specific for Listeria monocytogenes. 9th Annual Utah Conference on
Undergraduate Research. February 27th 2015. St. George Utah
6. Myers S* Johnson D†, Anderson B*, Ehlers K*, Orton T*, Ballard B*, Persaud S, Weber KS.
Engineering High Affinity Class II TCRs Specific for Listeria monocytogenes. Autumn
Immunology Conference 44th Annual Meeting. November 20-23rd 2015. Chicago Illinois
7. Myers S* Johnson D†, Anderson B*, Ehlers K*, Orton T*, Ballard B*, Persaud S, Weber KS.
Engineering High Affinity Class II TCRs Specific for Listeria monocytogenes. 10th Annual Utah
Conference on Undergraduate Research. February 19th 2016. Salt Lake City. Utah
Budget
I hired undergraduates and graduate students to be employed over the summer months
(~$9,000). The rest of the funds were spent on supplies ($3,000 – Flow cytometry, $2,000 – DNA
sequencing and cloning reagents, $2,000 – Lab consumables, $2,000 – T cell isolation supplies,
and $2,000 – Mouse husbandry).
Conclusion
This MEG has been a blessing to many students. They have been able to attend and
present at regional and national meetings as well as have great experiences working in the lab.
This was a tremendous opportunity for them to talk about their research with people outside of
The lab and in other fields of research and expand their scientific and future employment
horizons. It has also been very helpful to me and allowed me to employ and mentor more
students and move my projects forward faster than I would have otherwise. We greatly
appreciate the MEG funding that has made these projects and experiences possible.