1)延安大学生命科学学院,延安 716000;2)广州国家实验室,广州 510005
广州国家实验室自立项目(GZNL2023A03007)和陕西省科技计划(S2025-YF-YBNY-1080)资助。
1)College of Life Sciences, Yan’an University, Yan’an 716000, China;2)Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou 510005, China
This work was supported by grants from the Project of Guangzhou National Laboratory (GZNL2023A03007) and Science and Technology Project of Shaanxi Province (S2025-YF-YBNY-1080).
本文系统综述了质谱技术在抗体组学研究中的应用进展,探讨了其技术优势、应用场景与当前挑战。抗体的多样性不仅源于基因重组与体细胞超突变等机制,更体现在蛋白质层面的翻译后修饰及结构异质性。近年来,B细胞受体(BCR)测序虽能追踪抗体基因的重组路径,但难以反映实际分泌抗体的功能状态。因此,质谱技术凭借高灵敏度和高分辨率,能在蛋白质层面进行直接解析,已成为抗体研究的核心分析手段。基于质谱的抗体蛋白质组学测序(Ab-Seq)技术,主要包括依赖参考数据库的自下而上(bottom-up)、自中而下(middle-down)和自上而下(top-down)方法,以及不依赖参考数据库的从头(de novo)测序技术,实现了从肽段、结构域到完整抗体分子的多层次、高精度表征。本文系统梳理了各类质谱分析策略的技术原理、应用场景与发展动态,并剖析了各自的优势与局限。进一步提出整合BCR-seq与Ab-seq的协同分析策略,通过构建基因-蛋白质关联图谱,为抗体组的研究、抗体药物的结构解析与疫苗效力评估提供有力的研究工具。
Antibodies play a critical role in adaptive immune responses and serve as key components in disease diagnosis and treatment. These molecules exhibit dynamic post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as glycosylation and phosphorylation, which regulate their effector functions. To date, nearly all of our knowledge about antibody repertoires has come from B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing (BCR-seq), which facilitates the profiling of clonal composition and the tracing of maturation trajectories within B-cell repertoires. However, circulating antibodies found in bodily fluids—such as serum, saliva, milk, mucosal secretions, and cerebrospinal fluid—exhibit diversities and specificities beyond what BCR-seq alone can predict. Therefore, identifying and quantifying antibody clonotypes at the protein level could enhance diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment strategies in personalized medicine. The critical gap between genotype and phenotype necessitates complementary methodologies that enable the direct characterization of antibody proteins in their native functional states. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based antibody repertoire sequencing (Ab-seq) is currently the only feasible approach for this task and primarily includes database-dependent methods—such as bottom-up, middle-down, and top-down approaches—as well as database-independent de novo sequencing technology. These strategies enable multi-level, high-precision characterization ranging from peptides and domains to intact antibody molecules. Unlike the shotgun strategy commonly used in routine proteomics, obtaining full sequences of all antibodies presents unique challenges. It requires specialized methodological adaptations to address issues related to dynamic range, sequence variation, and sample complexity. This review introduces the technical principles, methodological workflows, and recent applications of various mass spectrometry-based antibody repertoire sequencing (Ab-seq) strategies, with a focus on approaches designed to improve sequence coverage and identification accuracy. These include multi-enzyme digestion, hybrid fragmentation methods, and artificial intelligence-assisted de novo sequencing. By systematically comparing database-dependent techniques—such as bottom-up, middle-down, and top-down approaches—with database-independent de novo sequencing, this review outlines their respective advantages and limitations in terms of sample throughput, sequence coverage, post-translational modification characterization, and data analysis complexity. In addition, this review discusses emerging technological trends, including the integration of ion mobility separation, native mass spectrometry, and artificial intelligence-driven data interpretation, which are expected to enhance the depth and accuracy of antibody characterization. Although current methods continue to face challenges related to sample complexity, dynamic range, and unambiguous sequence variant assignment, we emphasize the importance of integrating BCR-seq and Ab-seq data to construct gene-protein association maps. These maps help validate sequence accuracy and facilitate epitope discovery. This dual-platform strategy helps bridge the gap between genotype and phenotype, thereby enhancing both the resolution and scope of antibody repertoire studies. Such an integrative approach also offers a valuable tool for therapeutic antibody development, structure-function analysis, and precise evaluation of vaccine efficacy.
刘生梅,薛鹏,王晓涧.基于质谱的抗体测序技术[J].生物化学与生物物理进展,2026,53(4):840-854
复制

扫码关注 生物化学与生物物理进展 ® 2026 网站版权 ICP:京ICP备05023138号-1 京公网安备 11010502031771号
