Innovative High-Throughput Antibody Testing Platform to Accelerate Disease Research and Therapeutic Development

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a groundbreaking high-volume antibody testing platform, known as oPool+, designed to rapidly generate and analyze vast numbers of antibodies simultaneously. This advanced method can significantly expedite the study of immune responses and streamline the discovery of therapeutic antibodies. Antibodies play a vital role in targeted immune defense and are crucial for vaccine development, but traditional methods of studying them are slow, costly, and labor-intensive, limiting rapid progress.

The oPool+ display technology marries high-throughput synthesis techniques with a sophisticated binding analysis system, enabling the creation and testing of hundreds to thousands of diverse antibodies against specific viral targets, like influenza hemagglutinin. In their study, the team assembled a library of around 300 antibody variants sourced from different individuals to account for immune response variability. This library was used to analyze how different antibodies bind to hemagglutinin variants, including mutations common in influenza viruses.

One of the key advantages of this platform is its speed: it allows researchers to evaluate thousands of antibody-antigen interactions within days, drastically reducing project timelines from weeks or months. It also reduces material costs by up to 80-90%, making large-scale antibody profiling more feasible. The profiles generated help identify the most promising candidates for therapeutic development and reveal common features of effective antibodies across different individuals, supporting efforts to create broadly protective vaccines.

Looking forward, the research team aims to expand oPool+'s capacity to handle even larger antibody libraries, potentially in the tens of thousands. The technology has broad applications beyond influenza, including other viruses, bacteria, and cancer. In case of future emerging pathogens, this platform can quickly characterize immune responses and facilitate rapid development of vaccines or antibody-based treatments. Additionally, the platform serves as a tool for validating artificial intelligence models that predict antibody structures, creating a feedback loop to enhance AI accuracy.

This innovative approach promises to revolutionize immunological research, vaccine development, and therapeutic discovery by enabling fast, cost-efficient, and comprehensive antibody analysis. The findings were published in Science Translational Medicine.