Unravelling Effector Functions of B cells in Infectious Diseases and Cancer

Dear Colleagues,

Infectious diseases cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Antibodies are the cardinal effector molecules of the adaptive immune system and are being leveraged as biotherapeutic drugs against bacterial, parasitic and viral diseases and cancer. Besides direct neutralization, antibodies induce innate and adaptive immune responses (through their Fc domain) that are critical to a successful host immune response against infections as in AIDS, Ebola, malaria, influenza, tuberculosis and a host of other diseases. Diverse effector functions are deployed by antibodies such as immune complex formation that drive sequestration and uptake of pathogens, elimination of infected cells, enhancement of antigen presentation and regulation of inflammation. The antibody responses are stimulated by infected cells or parasites in the mammalian hosts and may be disease-promoting or protective depending upon the invading parasite species and the antibody isotype stimulated. The protective antibodies may inhibit parasite invasion and hence its growth via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement-fixing antibodies as in the case of Plasmodium species that cause malaria. Antibodies have been reported to block the entry of cestodes like Taenia and Echinococcus into the mammalian host. While intracellular parasites such as Toxoplasma, Entamoeba and Leishmania species persist in the hostile milieu of the host by mitigating the antibody effector functions. Tailored monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics may help in designing effective vaccines against these infections and cancer. The affinity and avidity of engineered antibody formats may also be tuned to enable a new wave of differentiated antibody drugs with tailored properties and novel functions, as promising treatment options for a wide variety of diseases.

This book will focus on antibodies leveraging a remarkable diversity of anti-microbial processes locked within our immune system, and the specific antibody effector functions that can be harnessed to facilitate the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infections. The amelioration of antibody effector functions will also be discussed that may guide a rational vaccine design and antibody-based therapeutics to target gaps in our infectious disease armamentarium.

Dr. Farhat Afrin
Guest Editor

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• Antibody-based therapeutics
• effector functions
• infectious diseases
• antibody isotypes
• antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity
• complement fixation
• inflammation
• vaccines
• engineered antibodies
• antigen presentation
• cancer