Characterization of heavy-chain antibody gene repertoires in Bactrian camels

Yuexing Liu; Li Yi; Yixue Li; Zhen Wang; Jirimutu

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2022.04.010

Characterization of heavy-chain antibody gene repertoires in Bactrian camels

J Genet Genomics. 2023 Jan;50(1):38-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2022.04.010. Epub 2022 Apr 29.

Authors

Yuexing Liu¹, Li Yi², Yixue Li³, Zhen Wang⁴, Jirimutu⁵

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
² Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Food Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Huhhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China.
³ Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310024, China; School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510005, China; Bio-Med Big Data Center, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: yxli@sibs.ac.cn.
⁴ CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. Electronic address: zwang01@sibs.ac.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Food Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Huhhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China; Inner Mongolia Institute of Camel Research, West Alax, Inner Mongolia 737399, China. Electronic address: yeluotuo1999@vip.163.com.

PMID: 35500746
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2022.04.010

Abstract

Camelids are the only mammals that can produce functional heavy-chain antibodies (HCAbs). Although HCAbs were discovered over 30 years ago, the antibody gene repertoire of Bactrian camels remains largely underexplored. To characterize the diversity of variable genes of HCAbs (VHHs), germline and rearranged VHH repertoires are constructed. Phylogenetics analysis shows that all camelid VHH genes are derived from a common ancestor and the nucleotide diversity of VHHs is similar across all camelid species. While species-specific hallmark sites are identified, the non-canonical cysteines specific to VHHs are distinct in Bactrian camels and dromedaries compared with alpacas. Though low divergence at the germline repertoire between wild and domestic Bactrian camels, higher expression of VHHs is observed in some wild Bactrian camels than that of domestic ones. This study not only adds our understanding of VHH repertoire diversity across camelids, but also provides useful resources for HCAb engineering.

Keywords: Bactrian camel; Heavy-chain antibody; Immune repertoire diversity; Nanobody; Non-canonical cysteine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Camelids, New World* / genetics
Camelus* / genetics
Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / genetics
Phylogeny

Substances

Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains