Characterizing adjuvants' effects at murine immunoglobulin repertoire level

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Bioinformatics
• Genomics

Background:

• Characterizing immune repertoire at scale is challenging.
• Adjuvants' effects on immune repertoires are not well understood.
• Standardized methods are needed for accurate repertoire profiling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a standardized IgSeq pipeline for repertoire profiling.
• To investigate the systemic effects of CpG and Alum adjuvants on the Ig heavy chain repertoire.
• To compare adjuvant-induced changes in different tissues and isotypes.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel IgSeq pipeline with standardized library preparation and data analysis.
• Utilizing an ovalbumin (OVA) murine model for immunization studies.
• Analysis of spleen and bone marrow samples for IgG and IgM isotypes.

Main Results:

• Established distinguishable Ig repertoire profiles in different tissues at steady state.
• Observed amplified repertoire distinctions post-adjuvanted immunization.
• Identified distinct tissue- and isotype-specific effects of Alum and CpG adjuvants.
• Alum increased bone marrow clone diversity; CpG promoted IgG clone selection.

Conclusions:

• The IgSeq pipeline enables accurate immune repertoire profiling.
• Adjuvants significantly alter immune repertoires with specific preferences.
• Understanding these adjuvant-specific effects is crucial for vaccine development and immunotherapy.