VLRB antibodies: advances in screening, molecular engineering, and application

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Biotechnology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Variable lymphocyte receptor B (VLRB) antibodies from jawless vertebrates are a unique class of adaptive immune receptors.
• Unlike conventional immunoglobulins, VLRBs utilize leucine-rich repeat (LRR) modules for antigen specificity and form multimeric assemblies for enhanced binding avidity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advances in VLRB antibody discovery, selection, and engineering.
• To explore the applications of VLRBs in glycomics, diagnostics, therapeutics, and biomolecular engineering.

Main Methods:

• High-throughput screening platforms including yeast surface display, phage display, and long-read sequencing for VLRB discovery.
• Engineering strategies such as Fc fusion, multimerization, and rational design to optimize VLRB properties.
• Application-focused studies in vaccine development, disease diagnostics, and targeted drug delivery.

Main Results:

• VLRBs exhibit unique glycan-binding capabilities valuable for glycomics and probe development.
• Engineered VLRBs demonstrate enhanced stability, affinity, and expression.
• VLRBs show promise in boosting vaccine immunogenicity, detecting cancer and infectious agents with high specificity, and facilitating targeted drug delivery.

Conclusions:

• Recent advancements highlight the potential of VLRBs as next-generation tools in various biomedical and biotechnological fields.
• The unique structural and functional attributes of VLRBs position them for significant impact in diagnostics, therapeutics, and biomolecular engineering.