A new computing tool developed by IRB researchers

Antibodies are vital proteins of the immune system that can virtually recognize all non-self-molecules and initiate an immune response to remove them. The study of antibody repertoires evolution is critical to understand how an organism can generate specific antibodies after antigen exposure.

Phylogeny analysis of antibody repertoire allows the discovery of key mutations that transform antibodies with low affinity against an antigen to extremely affine antibodies binders and, in some cases, to cross-reactive binders. Identification of those mutations can help understanding the affinity maturation processes that shape the antibody repertoire. Antibody phylogenic analysis is also crucial to design news drug and guide adequate vaccine design. The recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) have revolutionized the analysis of antibody repertoires by generating million to billions of antibodies sequences. Nonetheless, interpretation of these data still requires some computational skills to be explored. Here, we have developed AncesTree, a simple ready to use software that can allow any immunologist to visualize his data and rapidly identify antibodies phylogeny and important maturation events leading to potent or cross-reactive antibodies of interest.