New software package employs deep-learning algorithms to analyze T-cell receptor sequencing data
Researchers at the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed DeepTCR, a software package that employs deep-learning algorithms to analyze T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing data. T-cell receptors are found on the surface of immune T cells. These receptors bind to certain antigens, or proteins, found on abnormal cells, such as cancer cells and cells infected with a virus or bacteria, to guide the T cells to attack and destroy the affected cells.
"DeepTCR is an open-source software that can be used to answer questions in research into infectious disease, cancer immunology and autoimmune disease; any place where the immune system has a role through its T-cell receptors," said lead study author John-William Sidhom, an M.D./Ph.D. student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Department of Biomedical Engineering working in the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.