TY - JOUR T1 - Sequence and functional characterization of a public HIV-specific antibody clonotype JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.05.14.444191 SP - 2021.05.14.444191 AU - Amyn A. Murji AU - Nagarajan Raju AU - Juliana S Qin AU - Haajira Kaldine AU - Katarzyna Janowska AU - Emilee Friedman Fechter AU - Rutendo Mapengo AU - Cathrine Scheepers AU - Ian Setliff AU - Priyamvada Acharya AU - Lynn Morris AU - Ivelin S. Georgiev Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/05/17/2021.05.14.444191.abstract N2 - Public antibody clonotypes shared among multiple individuals have been identified for several pathogens. However, little is known about the limits of what constitutes a public clonotype. Here, we characterize the sequence and functional properties of antibodies from a public HIV-specific clonotype comprising sequences from 3 individuals. Our results showed that antigen specificity for the public antibodies was modulated by the VH, but not VL, germline gene. Non-native pairing of public heavy and light chains from different donors resulted in antibodies with consistent antigen specificity, suggesting functional complementation of sequences within the public antibody clonotype. The strength of antigen recognition appeared to be dependent on the specific antibody light chain used, but not on other sequence features such as germline or native-antibody sequence identity. Understanding the determinants of antibody clonotype “publicness” can provide insights into the fundamental rules of host-pathogen interactions at the population level, with implications for clonotype-specific vaccine development.Competing Interest StatementI.S.G. is a co-founder of AbSeek Bio. I.S., L.M., and I.S.G. are listed as inventors on patents filed for the antibodies described here. The Georgiev laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received unrelated funding from Takeda Pharmaceuticals.  ER -