Software for sequencing human antibody proteins from polyclonal immune responses | SBIR.gov
Summary
Individuals who have recovered from a pathogenic infection retain immune memory and continue to circulate pathogen-specific antibodies. For many infectious diseases like respiratory syncytial virus, Ebola, and poxviruses, antibodies with neutralizing activity to multiple viral strains have been discovered from human survivors. While protein is the ideal material to start with, characterization of polyclonal antibody (pAb) protein presents new challenges.Recent advances in mass spectrometry and analysis have shown individual antibody candidates can be derived from affinity-purified pAb proteins when a sufficiently matched B-cell genetic antibody repertoire is provided. The proposed software will provide estimates of clonal diversity and candidate sequences that can be synthesized and tested for reactivity. In addition to addressing needs for infectious diseases, as demonstrated with an urgent unmet need to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, the software also applies to clinical and biomedical research needs in autoimmune disease, and commercial interests in replacing polyclonal antibody reagents with highly reproducible monoclonal antibody equivalents.