Info Since I was a fully-online Committed Listener, I did not have wet lab resources to complete my final project. Therefore, there may be some parts of my final project that were said to happen but were not completed.
SECTION 1: ABSTRACT Seasonal allergic rhinitis affects hundreds of millions of people globally, heavily driven by major pollen allergens like Bet v 1 from birch trees. Current treatments rely on systemic pharmaceuticals, such as antihistamines or steroids, that manage human immune symptoms post-exposure but fail to address the environmental trigger itself. This project addresses this critical gap by shifting the paradigm from symptom management to active, localized bioremediation inside the human nasal cavity. The broad objective of this project is to engineer a “Living Bio-Shield”: a bacterial genetic circuit designed to operate within a nasal commensal that detects and neutralizes pollen proteins upon inhalation. We hypothesize that a chimeric two-component receptor system can be engineered to specifically bind Bet v 1, subsequently triggering a genetic circuit to secrete neutralizing nanobodies (VHH domains) via a Sec-dependent pathway. The specific aims involve designing the chimeric receptor in silico, assembling the genetic circuit plasmid, and validating the computational folding and binding affinity of the receptor-nanobody complex. This will be achieved using bioinformatics databases, AlphaFold for protein design, Benchling for DNA construct assembly, and simulated structural analysis. By neutralizing allergens before they interact with the mucosal epithelium, this project establishes a novel preventative biotherapeutic platform for respiratory health.