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It is increasingly clear that an extraordinarily diverse range of clinically important conditions-including infections, vaccinations, autoimmune diseases, transplants, transfusion reactions, aging, and cancers-leave telltale signatures in the millions of V(D)J-rearranged antibody and T cell receptor [TR per the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) nomenclature but more commonly known as TCR] genes collectively expressed by a person's B cells (antibodies) and T cells. We refer to these as the immunome. Because of its diversity and complexity, the immunome provides singular opportunities for advancing personalized medicine by serving as the substrate for a highly multiplexed, near-universal blood test. Here we discuss some of these opportunities, the current state of immunome-based diagnostics, and highlight some of the challenges involved. We conclude with a call to clinicians, researchers, and others to join efforts with the Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire Community (AIRR-C) to realize the diagnostic potential of the immunome.

Original publication

DOI

10.3389/fimmu.2021.626793

Type

Journal article

Journal

Front Immunol

Publication Date

2021

Volume

12

Keywords

T-cell receptor repertoire, adaptive immune receptor repertoire (AIRR), analyses, antibody repertoire, clinical laboratory testing, diagnostic test, immunome, immunomics, Adaptive Immunity, Hematologic Tests, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Humans, Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell