Functional analyses of the T cell receptor (TCR) landscape can reveal critical information about protection from disease and molecular responses to vaccines. However, it has proven difficult to combine advanced next-generation sequencing technologies with methods to decode the peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) specificity of individual TCRs. Here we developed a new high-throughput approach to enable repertoire-scale functional evaluations of natively paired TCRs. In particular, we leveraged the immortalized nature of physically linked TCRα:β amplicon libraries to analyze binding against multiple recombinant pMHCs on a repertoire scale. To exemplify the utility of this approach, we also performed affinity-based functional mapping in conjunction with quantitative next-generation sequencing to track antigen- specific TCRs. These data successfully validated a new immortalization and screening platform to facilitate detailed molecular analyses of human TCRs against diverse antigen targets associated with health, vaccination, or disease.
Next Generation Sequencing‐Based Identification of T‐Cell Receptors for Immunotherapy Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma