Antibody Development with Biologics LIMS

January 20, 2023

About LabKey

Antibody development is a data-driven endeavor requiring specialized biotech software. A vast amount of data is generated from many teams with the hopes of answering questions and informing decision-making along the way. Centralizing this data and their analyses across experiments amplifies the power and impact that data has on antibody research and development.

Of course, centralizing assay data means much more than simply storing data in a LIMS. Data centralization increases the value of antibody data beyond one particular experiment or result by helping defining data relationships. The ability of biotech software to aggregate data across multiple samples, assays, and experiments, with metadata describing the relationship of all of these to each other, is where modern data science resides. Whereas the analysis of a single value from a single assay shows a distribution, joining that assay with others reveals a richer data landscape that is ripe for analysis. These data landscapes yield even more insights when they are related to one another across many controlled variables and conditions.

Below are more ways that implementing software and strategies for data centralization can impact the speed and efficiency of antibody development.

Data Integrity

Having a single source of truth for data makes it easier for organizations to track how (and by whom) antibody development data is generated, accessed, and modified. With the assistance of biotech software serving as a central hub- permissions, auditing, and backups provide control over how, when, where, and by whom data is used. Centralization of data also encourages standardization of data formats across research teams. Standardizing data structures helps validate the data being entered and helps preserve the relationships between data. This leads to downstream efficiency and maximizes the utility of experiments beyond the individual or team from which it was derived.

Collaboration

Centralizing biologics discovery and antibody development data also helps promote collaboration between research teams. By storing data on samples and plates in one central location in standardized formats, scientists can easily find, compare and reference existing data in their research. A central repository for data also makes it much easier to see what data is missing or needed to inform decisions. Hand-offs of data are also made easier when all data is centrally stored.

Registering Antibodies and Components

To register antibodies, Biologics LIMS provides an easy-to-use Bioregistry. Users can add an antibody description, aliases, and details about the molecule’s lineage. Then, users select the components of this molecule, generally composed of one or more protein sequences, and finalize the stoichiometry. The Bioregistry verifies that this entity, defined by its components and their stoichiometry, has not previously been registered. Users can also register molecules in bulk through the user interface, or via API. This includes support for importing GenBank files.

Tracking Component Relationships

Antibody development typically utilizes an expression system to produce samples of a molecule and its variations. Biologics LIMS stores key physical characteristics about registered molecules and presents users with captured information about its components, with linkage to the expression system from which it is derived. The relationship between an expression system and its target molecule can be determined from the construct, media, and gene inserts used in the expression system.

Users are able to import biologics assay data for samples derived from that expression system for comparison and deeper analytics. When a user registers a new expression system in LabKey Biologics, the application makes an explicit connection between it and the molecule of interest. This relationship is valuable for visualizing and navigating between the related expression system data and the molecule data.

Antibody Development Workflow

Proper coordination of the multifaceted activities involved with antibody development is essential to ensure high quality results. Research managers must orchestrate all activities in their lab to facilitate communication, prevent bottlenecks, and prevent data from becoming siloed.

Biologics LIMS provides a centralized system for managing ongoing biologics workflows and storing data generated across team members. This includes features to generate configurable work requests and track laboratory tasks. By maintaining the relationship between tasks and their resulting data Biologics LIMS ensures smooth handoffs and provides researchers with a holistic view of research operations and workflow progress. For example, a user can navigate from assay result data to the original request for it, facilitating operational visibility.