In vitro immunological display technologies have revolutionized the field of antibody discovery and therapeutic development. The awarding of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter underscored the significance of phage display, a pioneering technology that links the displayed polypeptide on a phage particle to its genetic material, enabling propagation, replication, and mutation. Since its inception in the 1980s, phage display has become a cornerstone in the generation and selection of antibodies, with several approved for therapeutic use. The evolution of display technologies has led to the development of diverse platforms, including yeast, ribosome, and mammalian displays, each exploiting the core principles of diversity generation, phenotype/genotype coupling, and selection pressure. Despite these advancements, challenges remain in optimizing these technologies for broader applications, particularly in generating antibodies against non-immunogenic targets and improving the efficiency of selection strategies.

This research topic aims to explore and promote the diverse applications of in vitro display platforms, such as phage, yeast, ribosome, and mammalian displays, in antibody discovery and therapeutic development. The focus is on generating and utilizing various displayed molecules with therapeutic potential, including scFvs, scFabs, Fabs, and single-domain antibodies. Additionally, the research seeks to highlight innovative strategies that complement display technologies, such as microfluidic next-generation sequencing, to enhance the discovery and functional screening of monoclonal antibodies. Ultimately, the goal is to demonstrate the potential of these technologies in generating and characterizing antibody repertoires and discovering new therapeutic molecules.

To gather further insights in the development and application of in vitro immunological display technologies, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Research on the evolution and engineering of novel and improved antibody libraries.
- Studies on the development of new-generation protein scaffolds for molecular recognition.
- Research on the evolution of new selection strategies for function or novel/challenging targets.
- Molecular dissection of autoantibodies involved in autoimmune diseases.
- Investigation of the antibody response against pathogens at the molecular level.
- Evaluation of the humoral response in cancer.
- Development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches using display technologies

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Frontiers in Immunology

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