A new antibody profiling platform to help diagnose autoimmune diseases like lupus
Official title: A platform for serum antibody repertoire analysis for autoimmune disease diagnosis
Funded at Abterra Biosciences, INC. · NIH-11316086 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new method will analyze many antibody sequences in blood to aid diagnosis of autoimmune diseases such as lupus.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 1 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Abterra Biosciences, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Diego, United States) |
| Project start | August 17, 2026 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $306,555 |
| NIH project number | 1R43AI197772-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11316086 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People suspected of having autoimmune diseases, particularly those undergoing evaluation for SLE.
✕Less likely to help
Patients not undergoing serum antibody testing or not eligible for the study may not benefit.
What this research studies
This project will develop a platform called CDR3-Seq to profile over 1,000 antibody sequences from blood serum, focusing on the antibody CDRH3 region to capture diverse immune signals. It combines improved sample prep, mass spectrometry, and new computational tools to create a comprehensive view of antibody repertoires. In a proof-of-concept, researchers will build machine learning models to help diagnose SLE from patient samples. The work aims to speed up diagnosis and provide deeper insight into autoimmune signatures.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the platform could shorten the time to diagnosis and improve accuracy for autoimmune diseases like lupus.
How similar studies have gone: Preliminary approaches show promise in linking antibody patterns to autoimmune diseases, but a comprehensive, target-agnostic profiling like this is novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Abterra Biosciences, INC.
San Diego, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bonissone, Stefano Romoli — Abterra Biosciences, INC.
- Study coordinator: Bonissone, Stefano Romoli
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.