Junior Faculty Distinguished Lectures by Klaus Eyer, Biomedicine, AU and Asger Givskov, MGB, AU

Associate Professor Klaus Eyer, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University

Beyond Immune Phenotypes: Measuring Function at the Single-Cell Level

The immune system is composed of highly heterogeneous cells whose functional states cannot always be inferred from their identity or phenotype alone. While single-cell sequencing has transformed our ability to characterize immune-cell states, directly measuring what individual cells do remains challenging. Cells with similar phenotypic or molecular profiles can exhibit markedly different functional behaviours, such as the amount and dynamics of molecules they secrete, with potentially very different biological consequences.

The talk will highlight quantitative technologies combining microfluidics and single-cell analysis to directly measure cellular function and resolve this heterogeneity. In particular, measurements of secretion and its dynamics provide access to functional states obscured in population-level analyses. Integrating functional measurements with molecular and immune-repertoire information further enables cellular behaviour to be related to molecular identity. Together, these approaches open new avenues for quantitatively understanding immune responses and translating functional heterogeneity into biomedical applications.

Assistant Professor Asger Givskov Jørgensen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University

Molecular Footprints: Probing Molecular Interactions with Nucleic Acids through Chemical Modification and Nanopore Readout

Proteins and microRNAs drive molecular changes that define health, food quality, and environmental state. Measuring these analytes directly in solution often requires complex processing, antibodies, functionalised surfaces, or mass spectrometry.

This talk presents an alternative strategy in which nucleic acid probes, including RNA aptamers, act as soluble detection molecules. Aptamers are short, structured nucleic acids that bind analytes with high affinity and specificity.

When a target binds, it changes which regions of the nucleic acid probe remain exposed to chemical probing. Chemical probing leaves specific covalent patterns that distinguish bound and unbound probe states.

Oxford Nanopore sequencing can then read these modified RNAs directly as electrical signals, without requiring basecalling. This enables the use of chemically modified RNAs as detection molecules. By separating chemical sensing from nanopore readout, the approach avoids relying on native target-nanopore interactions during sequencing and reduces computational demands.

The long-term goal is a rapid, multiplexed platform for analyte detection in biofluids, with applications in industry and healthcare.