Serum Antibody Profiling with a Carbohydrate Microarray

Division Of Basic Sciences - Nci

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Endogenous anti-glycan antibodies are a critical but poorly understood component of our immune system. The goals of this project are to enhance our basic understanding of these antibodies, identify subpopulations that are relevant to disease, and investigate their potential in various applications (e.g. biomarkers). We are particularly interested in understanding how the immune system constructs anti-glycan antibodies, how those antibodies recognize glycans, and how endogenous anti-glycan antibodies contribute to human health. These studies provide foundational knowledge that will aid in developing and engineering anti-glycan antibodies with high affinity and selectivity, identifying anti-glycan antibodies from antibody sequence databases, and capturing specific antibodies that are relevant to diseases. For many years, we have investigated human antibody responses to cancer, cancer vaccines, viral infections, and autoimmune diseases. In addition, we have been investigating relationships between immunogen design and antibody responses for various carbohydrate-based vaccines.