Deciphering the rules of antibody repertoire complexity using a systems biology approach

Description

Antibody repertoires ensure highly specific host protection. They thereby lay the foundation for many of the most prominent medical success stories such as vaccines, therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and immunodiagnostics. However, as of yet, the immense complexity of antibody repertoires (>1020 potential unique antibodies) prevented the quantitative investigation of the molecular rules, which govern their formation. Deciphering these rules is crucial for developing novel precision vaccine and therapeutic approaches. The recent advent of high-throughput sequencing constituted a paradigm-changing event for the rapidly expanding field of systems immunology as it has enabled for the first time to interrogate antibody repertoire diversity in its entirety. We have recently created one of the largest antibody repertoire high-throughput sequencing datasets to date. Combining this dataset with mathematical simulation, high-performance computing, machine learning and graph theory, I will present in my talk our progress in answering two of the longest-standing questions in the field of antibody immunology: (i) is the immense diversity of antibody repertoires predictable and (ii) what is the architecture of antibody repertoires?

Period	22 Aug 2016
Event type	Guest talk
Location	AustriaShow on map