Necessity of individual VDJ-databases for annotating antibody heavy chain characteristics in non-human primates

Non-human primates are important for preclinical vaccine evaluation. In depth characterization of the antibody response requires representative immunoglobulin (IG) germline gene databases for correct gene and allele assignments and assessment of affinity maturation of antigen-specific antibodies. Current IG-reference databases do not cover the genetic diversity observed in frequently used macaque species and it is unclear to what extent closely related animals express shared alleles at similar levels. Here, IG-germline alleles of sixteen cynomolgus macaques (CynoSet), some of which were related, were characterized and compared with previously described Mauritian and Indonesian origin cynomolgus macaque datasets. Although the CynoSet showed more overlap with the Mauritian origin dataset, compared to an Indonesian origin dataset, there were clear differences in allelic expression patterns, independent of family relationship. Calculation of somatic hypermutation levels in post-infection influenza hemagglutinin-specific B cells demonstrated the need for individualized IG-genotyping for accurate evaluation of the antigen-specific B cell response.