Use of Antibody Structural Information in Disease Prediction Models Reveals Antigen Specific B Cell Receptor Sequences in Bulk Repertoire Data

Structural information from IgH CDR1–3 plus antibody isotype identifies antigen-specific B cell receptor groups in bulk IgH data, improving food allergen prediction and matching HIV prediction performance.

• Why it matters: Convergent antibodies are promising diagnostic biomarkers, but prior definitions rely mainly on IgH CDR3 sequence, limiting antigen-specific interpretation from bulk repertoire data.
• What they did: The study compared convergence defined by IgH CDR3 sequence versus predicted structural information (CDR1–3 and isotype) to predict disease status in bulk IgH sequencing cohorts for HIV infection and food allergen sensitization.
• The result: Predicted structural information outperforms prior approaches for food sensitization status and performs on par for HIV infection status, and structurally convergent groups linked to HIV involve known HIV-binding antibodies with the appropriate isotype.

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