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A High Throughput MHC II Binding Assay for Quantitative Analysis of Peptide Epitopes
Published on: March 25, 2014
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Reconstructing pathogen-specific antibody binding epitopes and age-dependent immune signatures from proteomic-scale
Everlyn Kamau1, Nikolina Walas2, Minlu Zhang3
1Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
Medrxiv : the Preprint Server for Health Sciences
|October 3, 2025
Summary
Public health interventions improved child immunity to enteric infections. This study analyzed antibody responses, revealing waning maternal immunity and infection-induced boosts, crucial for understanding childhood diarrheal disease prevention.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Public Health
- Microbiology
Background:
- Childhood enteric infections and diarrheal diseases pose significant global health challenges.
- Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions combined with nutrition are critical for child health.
- Understanding humoral immune responses is key to assessing intervention effectiveness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the magnitude and breadth of humoral immune responses to enteric pathogens in children.
- To assess the impact of WASH and nutrition interventions on antibody repertoires.
- To characterize antibody responses over time and identify correlates of protection.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an integrated approach of bacterial display peptide library screening, next-generation sequencing, and computational analysis.
- Analyzed serum samples from a subset of children (n=60 intervention, n=60 control) at 3, 14, and 28 months.
- Employed mathematical modeling to infer immunity dynamics.
Main Results:
- Determined high seroprevalence for enteric infections across all age groups.
- Observed consistent antibody recognition of putative epitopes and antigenic regions over time.
- Inferred waning maternal immunity followed by infection-induced immunity boosts.
Conclusions:
- Integrated methods provide rigorous analysis of antibody responses and epitope identification.
- Antibody repertoires reflect infection history and immune development in early childhood.
- Findings contribute to understanding protective humoral immunity against enteric pathogens.
