Naive antibody gene-segment frequencies are heritable and unaltered by chronic lymphocyte ablation.

A diverse antibody repertoire is essential for an effective adaptive immune response to novel molecular surfaces. Although past studies have observed common patterns of V-segment use, as well as variation in V-segment use between individuals, the relative contributions to variance from genetics, disease, age, and environment have remained unclear. Using high-throughput sequence analysis of monozygotic twins, we show that variation in naive V(H) and D(H) segment use is strongly determined by an individual's germ-line genetic background. The inherited segment-use profiles are resilient to differential environmental exposure, disease processes, and chronic lymphocyte depletion therapy. Signatures of the inherited profiles were observed in class switched germ-line use of each individual. However, despite heritable segment use, the rearranged complementarity-determining region-H3 repertoires remained highly specific to the individual. As it has been previously demonstrated that certain V-segments exhibit biased representation in autoimmunity, lymphoma, and viral infection, we anticipate our findings may provide a unique mechanism for stratifying individual risk profiles in specific diseases.

Precise determination of the diversity of a combinatorial antibody library gives insight into the human immunoglobulin repertoire.

Antibody repertoire diversity, potentially as high as 10(11) unique molecules in a single individual, confounds characterization by conventional sequence analyses. In this study, we present a general method for assessing human antibody sequence diversity displayed on phage using massively parallel pyrosequencing, a novel application of Kabat column-labeled profile Hidden Markov Models, and translated complementarity determining region (CDR) capture-recapture analysis. Pyrosequencing of domain amplicon and RCA PCR products generated 1.5 x 10(6) reads, including more than 1.9 x 10(5) high quality, full-length sequences of antibody variable fragment (Fv) variable domains. Novel methods for germline and CDR classification and fine characterization of sequence diversity in the 6 CDRs are presented. Diverse germline contributions to the repertoire with random heavy and light chain pairing are observed. All germline families were found to be represented in 1.7 x 10(4) sequences obtained from repeated panning of the library. While the most variable CDR (CDR-H3) presents significant length and sequence variability, we find a substantial contribution to total diversity from somatically mutated germline encoded CDRs 1 and 2. Using a capture-recapture method, the total diversity of the antibody library obtained from a human donor Immunoglobulin M (IgM) pool was determined to be at least 3.5 x 10(10). The results provide insights into the role of IgM diversification, display library construction, and productive germline usages in antibody libraries and the humoral repertoire.

Next-Generation Sequencing RNA-Seq Library Construction.

This unit presents protocols for construction of next-generation sequencing (NGS) directional RNA sequencing libraries for the Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq from a wide variety of input RNA sources. The protocols are based on the New England Biolabs (NEB) small RNA library preparation set for Illumina, although similar kits exist from different vendors. The protocol preserves the orientation of the original RNA in the final sequencing library, enabling strand-specific analysis of the resulting data. These libraries have been used for differential gene expression analysis and small RNA discovery and are currently being tested for de novo transcriptome assembly. The protocol is robust and applicable to a broad range of RNA input types and RNA quality, making it ideal for high-throughput laboratories.

B cell exchange across the blood-brain barrier in multiple sclerosis.

In multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenic B cells likely act on both sides of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, it is unclear whether antigen-experienced B cells are shared between the CNS and the peripheral blood (PB) compartments. We applied deep repertoire sequencing of IgG heavy chain variable region genes (IgG-VH) in paired cerebrospinal fluid and PB samples from patients with MS and other neurological diseases to identify related B cells that are common to both compartments. For the first time to our knowledge, we found that a restricted pool of clonally related B cells participated in robust bidirectional exchange across the BBB. Some clusters of related IgG-VH appeared to have undergone active diversification primarily in the CNS, while others have undergone active diversification in the periphery or in both compartments in parallel. B cells are strong candidates for autoimmune effector cells in MS, and these findings suggest that CNS-directed autoimmunity may be triggered and supported on both sides of the BBB. These data also provide a powerful approach to identify and monitor B cells in the PB that correspond to clonally amplified populations in the CNS in MS and other inflammatory states.