IMMUNOLOGY2026™ Conference Recordings For Attendees-A unified network systems approach uncovers a core novel program underlying T follicular helper cell differentiation

A unified network systems approach uncovers a core novel program underlying T follicular helper cell differentiation

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Video Summary

Alisa, a PhD student in the Das lab, presented a network-based approach to study TFH cell fate progression. Instead of relying only on differential gene expression, her team integrated multiple tonsil datasets&mdash;gene expression, ATAC-seq, and CUT&amp;RUN&mdash;to build gene regulatory and protein-protein interaction networks. Using network propagation and personalized PageRank, they identified 152 driver transcription factors and 184 key genes, including known TFH regulators like BCL6 and less obvious ones such as PIM1. These network methods revealed biology missed by expression-only analysis and produced coherent modules linked to published TFH biology. The approach also worked across data types, tissues, and species, including single-cell, spatial, and mouse datasets. A major finding was that IL-12 appears important early in TFH differentiation but must be turned off for germinal center TFH fate, helping reconcile conflicting literature. The talk highlighted that networks can uncover hidden functional relationships and guide future perturbation studies.

Meta Tag

Date April 15, 2026 3:30 PM - 3:45 PM

Room 151

Session Immunological -omics Analysis

Speaker Alisa Omelchenko

Track Computational and Systems Immunology (COMP)

Year 2026

Keywords

TFH cell fate progression

network-based analysis

gene regulatory networks

personalized PageRank

IL-12 signaling

April 15, 2026 3:30 PM - 3:45 PM

151

Immunological -omics Analysis

Alisa Omelchenko

Computational and Systems Immunology (COMP)

2026