Description+on+4-27-12+ARCS+poster

C:\kurt\storage\CIM Research Folder\kwhittem\Posters\4-27-12 ARCS Poster Event

Following an infection, the immune system responds by producing antibodies that specifically recognize the individual antigens of the pathogen. Researchers have used immune serum directly to identify the presence of a particular pathogen (for diagnostics), or as a tool to isolate either the reactive antibodies or the antigens that stimulated the antibodies (for therapeutic or vaccine development). However, since there are so many different antibodies present in the immune system (1011 possibilities), it can be difficult to detect a single antibody of interest. In addition, each antibody is individually measured, by current methods. Immunosignaturing is a multiplexed method for measuring 10s of thousands of antibodies in parallel. This immunosignaturing technique is performed by applying the antibody containing sera of an animal or person onto a glass slide arrayed with random peptides. Since each antibody binds to each peptide with varying specificities and affinities, a unique profile is produced which is unique to the repertoire of antibodies produced against a particular disease. We are using this immunosignaturing technique to identify these unique peptides, and then we use these peptides to purify the antibodies associated with disease. We propose that these purified antibodies can then be used as a probe to identify the original antigen to which the antibodies were stimulated. The feasibility of this approach will be demonstrated with a proof of concept experiment to “rediscover” antibodies against the SMC1fs antigen present in breast cancer 4T1 tumor tissue. Using this SMC1fs antigen, we will show that a connection can be made from an immunosignature to a specific antigen.