Lars Hangartner, PhD

Associate Professor of IMS

Department of Immunology and Microbiology

Research Focus

Antibody Fc effector functions.
Antibodies play an essential role in protection from viral infections. They achieve this either by neutralization, i.e. rendering the pathogen non-infections by blocking virus attachment or entry, or via Fc-mediated effector functions. These include complement-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (CDC), antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and antibody-mediated cellular phagocytosis (ADCP). Our research focuses on the molecular parameters that govern these effector functions as well as the impact that those have on vaccine-mediated protection from HIV infection.

Analysis of polyclonal antibody responses.
Iterative vaccine design relies on rapid analysis of antibody responses from vaccine trials to inform the improvement of vaccine designs. Therefore, we co-developed a rapid electron microscopy-based method for the analysis of polyclonal antibody responses in collaboration with the Ward-lab. This method can identify the main epitopes recognized by polyclonal antibodies and has been widely employed for the analysis of antibody responses from pre-clinical and clinical HIV vaccine trials. This method is currently miniaturized and extended to other antibody isotypes than IgG.

IgA antibody responses
IgA antibodies are the predominant type of antibodies protecting our mucosal surfaces, and at 66mg per kilogram and day, comprise one of the most abundantly produced immunoglobulin in our bodies. Yet, our knowledge on this isotype is lagging that on other antibody classes. With our research, we are aiming to develop technologies and reagents to enable a better understanding of this antibody isotype and its impact on protection against viral pathogens.

Education

Professional Experience

Awards & Professional Activities

Select Publications

Hangartner, Lars; Beauparlant, David; Rakasz, Eva G.; Nedellec, Rebecca; Hoze, Nathanael; Mckenney, Katherine R.; Martins, Mauricio A.; Seabright, Gemma E.; Allen, Joel D.; Weiler, Andrea M.; Friedrich, Thomas C.; Regoes, Roland R.; Crispin, Max; Burton, Dennis R. Effector function does not contribute to protection from virus challenge by a highly potent HIV broadly neutralizing antibody in nonhuman primates. Science Translational Medicine 2021.
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Bianchi, M.; Turner, H. L.; Nogal, Bartek; Cottrell, Christopher A.; Oyen, D.; Pauthner, Matthias G.; Bastidas, R.; Nedellec, R.; McCoy, L. E.; Wilson, Ian A.; Burton, Dennis R.; Ward, Andrew B.; Hangartner, Lars Electron-microscopy-based epitope mapping defines specificities of polyclonal antibodies elicited during HIV-1 BG505 envelope trimer immunization. Immunity 2018, 49, 288-300.
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Pauthner, Matthias G.; Nkolola, J. P.; Havenar-Daughton, C.; Murrell, B.; Reiss, S. M.; Bastidas, R.; Prevost, J.; Nedellec, R.; von Bredow, B.; Abbink, P.; Cottrell, Christopher A.; Kulp, D. W.; Tokatlian, T.; Nogal, Bartek; Bianchi, M.; Li, H.; Lee, Jeong Hyun; Butera, S. T.; Evans, D. T.; Hangartner, Lars; Finzi, A.; Wilson, Ian A.; Wyatt, Richard T.; Irvine, D. J.; Schief, William R.; Ward, Andrew B.; Sanders, R. W.; Crotty, Shane; Shaw, G. M.; Barouch, D. H.; Burton, Dennis R. Vaccine-induced protection from homologous tier 2 SHIV challenge in nonhuman primates depends on serum-neutralizing antibody titers. Immunity 2019, 50, 241-252.
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Nogal, Bartek; Bianchi, Matteo; Cottrell, Christopher A.; Kirchdoerfer, Robert N.; Sewall, Leigh M.; Turner, Hannah L.; Zhao, Fangzhu; Sok, Devin; Burton, Dennis R.; Hangartner, Lars; Ward, Andrew B. Mapping Polyclonal Antibody Responses in Non-human Primates Vaccinated with HIV Env Trimer Subunit Vaccines. Cell Reports 2020, 30, 3755-3765.e7.
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Maurer, Michael A.; Meyer, Larissa; Bianchi, Matteo; Turner, Hannah L.; Le, Ngoc P.; Steck, Marco; Wyrzucki, Arkadiusz; Orlowski, Vanessa; Ward, Andrew B.; Crispin, Max; Hangartner, Lars Glycosylation of Human IgA Directly Inhibits Influenza A and Other Sialic-Acid-Binding Viruses. Cell Reports 2018, 23, 90-99.
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Hessell, Ann J.; Hangartner, Lars; Hunter, Meredith; Havenith, Carin E.; Beurskens, Frank J.; Bakker, Joost M.; Lanigan, Caroline M.; Landucci, Gary; Forthal, Donald N.; Parren, Paul W.; Marx, Preston A.; Burton, Dennis R. Fc receptor but not complement binding is important in antibody protection against HIV. Nature 2007, 449, 101-104.
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