TECHNOLOGY AND CODE article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Viral Immunology
Pox-AbDab: the Orthopoxvirus Antibody Database
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Statistics, Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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In August 2024, the World Health Organisation declared the mpox orthopoxvirus to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern for the second time in three years, emphasising the need for continued studies into its microbiology and potential therapeutic interventions. Here, we present the Orthopoxvirus Antibody Database (Pox-AbDab), a repository of data on antibodies known to bind or neutralise viruses from the same genus as mpox (https://opig.stats.ox.ac.uk/webapps/poxabdab). Beyond standardising and centralising the data, we highlight challenges in translating knowledge across orthopoxviruses, such as the absence of a function-based nomenclature for virion surface antigens. We also performed an exploratory analysis of the known orthopoxvirus-binding antibody landscape, highlighting their aggregate molecular properties, cross-binding/cross-neutralisation profiles, evidence for immunodominance or immune escape from their epitopes, and gaps in coverage to help orient future research.
Keywords: antibody, antigen, Epitopes, mpox, neutralising, sequence, Structure
Received: 03 Sep 2025; Accepted: 30 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Capel, Wang, Williams, Deane and Raybould. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Charlotte M. Deane
Matthew I. J. Raybould
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