# Exploring the heterogeneity of the vaccine-elicited T cell response by scRNAseq

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2021 · $233,250

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Clinically relevant cellular responses to either experimental or FDA approved vaccine adjuvant formulations
have been difficult to generate and/or detect. Given the robust cellular responses against infectious challenge,
a reasonable assumption is that subunit vaccine formulations will better achieve cellular responses by following
the established rules governing the response to infections. However, we have shown that subunit vaccine-
elicited T cell responses are dependent on numerous factors (cytokines, transcription factors, metabolic
pathways) which are irrelevant, or even restrictive, to the T cell response to infectious challenge. More recent
preliminary scRNAseq results suggest that subunit vaccination generates an entirely unique population of T
cells unobserved in response to infectious challenge, capable of rapid, robust, and enduring memory
formation. The present proposal will examine the heterogeneity of both vaccine-elicited and infection-elicited T
cell responses over time, to what degree this heterogeneity overlaps with each other, and whether or not
specific T cell populations are predictive of an adjuvants' capacity for eliciting T cells and therefore be useful in
stratifying adjuvants along the axis of protective CD8+ T cell memory generation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10218805
- **Project number:** 1R21AI156456-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Ross M Kedl
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $233,250
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-01-28 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10218805

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10218805, Exploring the heterogeneity of the vaccine-elicited T cell response by scRNAseq (1R21AI156456-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10218805. Licensed CC0.

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