Comparative and Evolutionary Immunogenomics
Comparative and Evolutionary Immunogenomics
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A high diversity of adaptive immune loci complicates comparative analysis of adaptive immune responses across vertebrate species aiming at answering questions like "what makes one species susceptible to a disease, while its close relative is immune to it?" or "what makes some species reservoirs for pathogens?". To answer these questions, we are developing approaches and tools enabling comparative and evolutionary analyses of adaptive immune systems that utilize sequencing data from germline IG/TR loci and expressed adaptive immune repertoires as well as functional data such as antibody titers and scRNA-seq.
Population Immunogenomics
Population Immunogenomics
Recent studies showed that individual polymorhisms in germline IG/TR loci shape adaptive immune responses and can be associated with responses to vaccines and disease susceptibility. These observations are deeply connected to the personalized approach in medicine as they are related to questions "How to identify individuals who do not respond to a vaccine?" and "How to reveal individuals vulnerable to a disease?". Answering these questions would enable designing vaccines targeting non-responsive subjects and finding immunogenomics markers for early revealing the disease susceptibility.
Reviving Black-Footed Ferrets
Reviving Black-Footed Ferrets
Black-footed ferrets are one of North America's most endangered mammals and an iconic example of modern conservation efforts. Once thought to be extinct, the species has been brought back from the brink through captive breeding, habitat restoration, and continued wildlife management. Their limited genetic diversity and susceptibility to infectious diseases such sylvatic plague make black-footed ferrets an important model for studying the role of genomics in conservation biology. We are using comparative immugenomic approaches to identify markers of disease susceptibility and contribute to long-term conservation strategies.
Ruminant Immunogenomics
Ruminant Immunogenomics
Ruminants possess remarkable antibody repertoires, including ultralong antibodies with exceptionally diverse antigen-binding regions that enable recognition of challenging pathogens. By reconstructing complete immunoglobulin loci across populations of agricultural ruminants and related species, we investigate how structural variation and rapid evolution shape immune gene diversity. These studies provide insights into antibody evolution while laying the foundation for improving disease resistance, genomic selection, and breeding strategies in livestock.
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