Sequencing of Serum Antibodies by Next Generation Mass Spectrometry Fragmentation Technologies

Our blood contains many antibodies that protect us against diseases. After an infection, the concentration of some of these antibodies increases dramatically because they are directly involved in tackling the disease. With the work in this project we have increased our knowledge of patient-specific antibodies by purifying and characterizing them directly from serum. To enable the characterization of serum antibodies, we have developed and implemented new mass spectrometric methods, mainly using electron-induced fragmentation, to optimize sequence coverage and therefore antibody identification.