Law Laboratory | Scripps Research

MISSION

"HEALTH IS LIBERTY"

MANKIND HAS SUCCEEDED IN ERADICATING SMALLPOX -

WE CAN DO THE SAME FOR VIRAL HEPATITIS B AND C

The mission of the Law Laboratory is to generate

foundational insights in virology and immunology that

enable the eradication of HBV and HCV.

Research

The Yin and Yang of Human Antibody Response

Antibody response is part of our immune reactions to fight invasion of foreign matters and development of cancer in our bodies. It is a continuous trial-and-error process throughout our lifetime, influenced by both internal and external factors. When error occurs, our antibody response can do harm to ourselves.

The Law laboratory is interested in understanding how the good and the bad antibodies are made in our bodies. The good antibodies, made during an infection or vaccination against pathogens, help us survive numerous infections. The bad antibodies, found in autoimmune diseases and allergies, contribute to chronic health problems leading to poor quality of life. We utilize chronic viral hepatitis models to learn about these antibodies, the cells producing them, and our immune memory.

Current research projects:
(1) Hepatitis C (HCV). We are one of the leading teams in the world in the study of HCV neutralizing antibodies and vaccine antigens for rational vaccine design. See our recent publications here for our strategies in the development of a broadly effective HCV vaccine.

(2) Hepatitis B (HBV). It is estimated that ~3% of the world populations are HBV+. Chronic HBV can lead to liver inflammation and loss of liver functions. HBV is the leading cause for the need of liver transplantation in many countries. Chronic HBV can be cured functionally when the virus surface antigen (HBsAg) is suppressed and anti-HBsAg antibodies are produced at a high level in the patients. It is recently reported that antibody and B cell responses in chronic HBV patients are defective. We are interested in learning about the mechanism of this virus-induced immune suppression and the strategies to reverse the defect.

(3) Rheumatoid factor (RF) in protection and human diseases. RF is an anti-antibody antibody made in our bodies during an infection or autoimmune reaction. In chronic viral infection, RF can form large immune complex that precipitates in lower body temperature, known as cryoglobulin, causing tissue inflammation and damage. We would like to better define the molecular properties of RF and how they are regulated in our bodies.

(4) Food allergy. Allergy is a “misfired” immune reaction when our bodies expose to harmless food/environmental antigens. The exact cause of allergy is poorly understood although we know that IgE antibody plays a role if the allergic reaction occurs within minutes of allergen exposure. Allergen-specific IgE captured on the surface of mast cells can detect the presence of allergens, leading to "mast cell degranulation" and a cascade of potent immune reactions resulting in tissue damage, and in severe cases, life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. We are interested in studying how the allergen-specific IgE B cells are generated, how the immune memory to food allergens is maintained, and the strategies in curing food allergy. A collaborative training program has been established between our lab and the Division of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology of Scripps Clinic to study peanut allergy.

Mansun Law, Ph.D.

Professor
Department of Immunology & Microbiology

Education
B.Sc., Biotechnology, University of Hong Kong
M.Phil., Molecular Biology, University of Hong Kong
D.Phil., Virology, University of Oxford

Personnel

Alumni

Name Position Date
ARISACHI TANAKA UCSD VOLUNTEER 2024 - 2025
JAZLYNNE NAPOLES SURF STUDENT 2025
MIGUEL TORRES SURF STUDENT 2024
NATALIE SHOANGA RESEARCH ASSISTANT 2023 - 2024
NASHRAH AHMAD (PH.D.) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2023 - 2024
ARYAN ZANDI HIGH SCHOOL INTERN 2023
AREEJE ALMASARY (PH.D.) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2020 - 2022
DAE HEE KIM (PH.D.) VISITING SCIENTIST 2020 - 2021
ADAM AZAI STUDENT INTERN 2019 - 2021
WHITNEY BALDRIDGE GRAD STUDENT 2019 - 2021
DUYEN TRAN STUDENT INTERN 2017 - 2020
KENNA NAGY RESEARCH ASSISTANT 2016 - 2019
JENNIFER CHOI STUDENT INTERN 2016 - 2019
ESTELLE QI HIGH SCHOOL INTERN 2018 - 2019
JI HYUN LEE HIGH SCHOOL INTERN 2018 - 2019
SHAUN CASTILLO STUDENT INTERN / RESEARCH ASSISTANT 2012 - 2018
FERNANDO ALEMAN (PH.D.) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2014 - 2018
GERMAN GOMEZ VISITING SCIENTIST 2016 - 2017
XIHUA CAO VISITING SCIENTIST 2016 - 2017
RADHIKA GOPAL (PH.D) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2016 - 2017
KALIFA STRINGFIELD SURF STUDENT 2017
MATTHEW WANG SUMMER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT 2017
ALEX SWEY-SHEN CHEN (D.SC.) VISITING SCIENTIST 2015 - 2017
ANDREW HONDA RESEARCH ASSISTANT 2013 - 2017
DEVAN CHEA STUDENT INTERN 2014 - 2016
MICHELLE ZHI XU (M.D./PH.D.) VISITING SCIENTIST 2015 - 2016
JESSICA REINHARD VISITING STUDENT 2015
KELLI JACKSON GRAD STUDENT 2013 - 2015
JUDY JUN STUDENT INTERN 2011 - 2014
TINASHE RUWONA (PH.D.) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2010 - 2014
JUSTIN LUU STUDENT INTERN 2013
TRAVIS NIEUSMA STUDENT INTERN / RESEARCH ASSISTANT 2009 - 2012
JUSTIN ROBBINS (PH.D.) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2009 - 2012
KRISTIN COGBURN RESEARCH ASSISTANT 2009 - 2012
ANNE DUE (PH.D.) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2010 - 2012
NANCY FONG STUDENT INTERN 2011 - 2012
JILL ROUGHAN (PH.D.) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2009 - 2012
KATHRYN REARDON SURF STUDENT / RESEARCH ASSISTANT 2009 - 2011
ARTHUR KIM STUDENT INTERN 2009 - 2011
ROSA CARDOSO (PH.D.) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 2009 - 2010

Historic Photos

Broadly Neutralizing Antibody AR3C (Fab Fragment)!

Contact

Law Laboratory
Department of Immunology and Microbiology
The Scripps Research Institute

10550 N. Torrey Pines Rd.
Room/Mailcode: IMM33
La Jolla, CA 92037
Phone - (858) 784-2383
Fax - (858) 784-7842

Publications

See full list of publications by Mansun Law HERE

Book Chapters & Reviews:

  1. Law M. (2021) Antibody Responses in Hepatitis C Infection. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 11:a036962. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a036962
  2. Law M. (2019) Hepatitis C Virus Protocols | Springer Nature Link
  3. Chen F, Tzarum N, Wilson IA, Law M. (2019) VH1-69 antiviral broadly neutralizing antibodies: genetics, structures, and relevance to rational vaccine design. Curr Opin Virol 34:149-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2019.02.004
  4. Tzarum N, Wilson IA, Law M. (2018) The neutralizing face of hepatitis C virus E2 envelope glycoprotein. Front Immunol 9:1315. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.01315
  5. Law M. (2015) Editorial overview: Preventive and therapeutic vaccines (B cell epitope vaccine). Curr Opin Virol 11:viii-x.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2015.05.003
  6. Smith GL, Vanderplasschen A, Law M. (2002) The formation and function of extracellular enveloped vaccinia virus. J Gen Virol. 83:2915-2931. https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-83-12-2915

Research Articles:

  1. Nguyen YTK, Chen F, Giang E, Saha S, Ueno LA, Chen C, Watson CT, Tzarum N, Wilson IA, Law M, Stanfield RL. (2026) Structural and genetic signatures of two classes of HCV E2 neutralizing face antibodies from non-human primates immunized with a recombinant E1E2. NPJ Vaccines Apr 21. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-026-01449-1
  2. He L, Lee YZ, Zhang YN, Newby ML, Janus BM, Gonzalez FG, Ward G, DesRoberts C, Hung SH, Giang E, Allen JD, Kulakova L, Toth EA, Fuerst TR, Law M, Ofek G, Crispin M, Zhu J. (2026) Native-like soluble E1E2 glycoprotein heterodimers on self-assembling protein nanoparticles for hepatitis C virus vaccine design. Nat Commun. 17:2633. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69418-9
  3. Chen F, Nguyen YT, Lee Y, Giang E, Lau S, Koide Y, Hung S, Ueno L, He L, Fuerst TR, Lauer GM, Stanfield RL, Zhu J, Wilson IA, Law M. (2025) The conserved bridging domain on HCV E1E2 glycoprotein complex is targeted by neutralizing antibodies from diverse lineages. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Nov 7. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.05.686883.
  4. Candelaria RJL, Qian Y, Chen F, Law M, Zhang Y, Qiu X. (2025) scFPC-DE: Robust Differential Expression Analysis Along Single Cell Trajectories via Functional Principal Component Analysis. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Nov 5. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.03.686374
  5. Chen F, Giang E, Natarajan P, Mondala TS, Head SR, Lau SC, Sundaresan A, Kulakova L, Lin X, Aneja J, Andrabi R, Zhang Y, Scheuermann RH, Toth EA, Fuerst TR, Lewis-Ximenez L, Kim AY, Pockros P, Lauer GM, Law M. (2025) B cell transcriptomics reveals lasting dysregulation and rapid decline of protective memory after hepatitis C curebioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Oct 24. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.24.664545
  6. Hung, S. H., Torres, J. L., Chen, F., Giang, E., Ward, A. B., & Law, M. (2025). Antigenic and EM characterization of the Chiron experimental hepatitis C virus vaccine. Vaccine, 58, 127239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127239
  7. Collins AM, Ohlin M, Corcoran M, Heather JM, Ralph D, Law M, Martínez-Barnetche J, Ye J, Richardson E, Gibson WS, Rodriguez OL, Peres A, Yaari G, Watson CT, Lees WD. (2024) AIRR-C IG Reference Sets: curated sets of immunoglobulin heavy and light chain germline genes. Front Immunol. 2024 14:1330153. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1330153
  8. Alter HJ, Barnes E, Biondi MJ, Cox AL, Eberts JD, Feld JJ, Liang TJ, Morrison J, Rice CM, Shoukry NH, Thomas DL, Van Gennip J, Weijer C; other signatories. (2023) Joint statement in support of hepatitis C human challenge studies. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 8:967-969. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(23)00314-X
  9. Metcalf, M. C., Janus, B. M., Yin, R., Wang, R., Guest, J. D., Pozharski, E., Law, M., Mariuzza, R. A., Toth, E. A., Pierce, B. G., Fuerst, T. R., & Ofek, G. (2023). Structure of engineered hepatitis C virus E1E2 ectodomain in complex with neutralizing antibodies. Nature communications, 14(1), 3980. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39659-z
  10. Kanai T, Hu Z, Yang R, Wu W, Wang Z, Ma CD, Sanchez-Meza J, Law M, Houghton M, Law JL, Logan M, de Val N, Liang TJ. (2023) Three-dimensional reconstruction of the hepatitis C virus envelope glycoprotein E1E2 heterodimer by electron microscopic analysis. J Virol 97:e0178822. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01788-22
  11. Alzua GP, Pihl AF, Offersgaard A, Duarte Hernandez CR, Duan Z, Feng S, Fahnøe U, Sølund C, Weis N, Law M, Prentoe JC, Christensen JP, Bukh J, Gottwein JM. (2023) Inactivated genotype 1a, 2a and 3a HCV vaccine candidates induced broadly neutralising antibodies in mice. Gut 72:560-572. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2021-326323
  12. Pfaff-Kilgore JM, Davidson E, Kadash-Edmondson K, Hernandez M, Rosenberg E, Chambers R, Castelli M, Clementi N, Mancini N, Bailey JR, Crowe JE Jr, Law M, Doranz BJ. (2022) Sites of vulnerability in HCV E1E2 identified by comprehensive functional screening. Cell Rep. 39:110859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110859
  13. Gebert LFR, Law M, MacRae IJ. A structured RNA motif locks Argonaute2:miR-122 onto the 5' end of the HCV genome. (2021) Nat Commun. 12:6836. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27177-9
  14. Salas JH, Urbanowicz RA, Guest JD, Frumento N, Figueroa A, Clark KE, Keck Z, Cowton VM, Cole SJ, Patel AH, Fuerst TR, Drummer HE, Major M, Tarr AW, Ball JK, Law M, Pierce BG, Foung SKH, Bailey JR. (2022) An antigenically diverse, representative panel of envelope glycoproteins for hepatitis C virus vaccine development. Gastroenterology 162:562-574. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2021.10.005
  15. Chen F, Tzarum N, Lin X, Giang E, Velázquez-Moctezuma R, Augestad EH, Nagy K, He L, Hernandez M, Fouch ME, Grinyó A, Chavez D, Doranz BJ, Prentoe J, Stanfield RL, Lanford R, Bukh J, Wilson IA, Zhu J, Law M. (2021) Functional convergence of a germline-encoded neutralizing antibody response in rhesus macaques immunized with HCV envelope glycoproteins. Immunity. 54:781-796.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2021.02.013
  16. Chen F, Nagy K, Chavez D, Willis S, McBride R, Giang E, Honda A, Bukh J, Ordoukhanian P, Zhu J, Frey S, Lanford R, Law M. (2020) Antibody responses to immunization with HCV envelope glycoproteins as a baseline for B cell-based vaccine development. Gastroenterology 158:1058-1071.e6. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2019.11.282
  17. Tzarum N, Giang E, Kadam RU, Chen F, Nagy K, Augestad EH, Velázquez-Moctezuma R, Keck ZY, Hua Y, Stanfield RL, Dreux M, Prentoe J, Foung SKH, Bukh J, Wilson IA, Law M. (2020) An alternate conformation of HCV E2 neutralizing face as an additional vaccine target. Sci Adv 6:eabb5642. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb5642
  18. Tzarum N, Giang E, Kong L, He L, Prentoe J, Augestad E, Hua Y, Castillo S, Lauer GM, Bukh J, Zhu J, Wilson IA, Law M. (2019) Genetic and structural insights into broad neutralization of hepatitis C virus by human VH1-69 antibodies. Sci Adv 5:eaav1882. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aav1882
  19. Aleman F, Tzarum N, Kong L, Nagy K, Zhu J, Wilson IA, Law M. (2018) Immunogenetic and structural analysis of a class of HCV broadly neutralizing antibodies and their precursors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115:7569-74. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1802378115
  20. Gopal R, Jackson K, Tzarum N, Kong L, Ettenger A, Guest J, Pfaff JM, Barnes T, Honda A, Giang E, Davidson E, Wilson IA, Doranz BJ, Law M. (2017) Probing the antigenicity of hepatitis C virus envelope glycoprotein complex by high-throughput mutagenesis. PLoS Pathog 13:e1006735. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006735
  21. Kong L, Lee DE, Kadam RU, Liu T, Giang E, Nieusma T, Garces F, Tzarum N, Woods VL, Jr., Ward AB, Li S, Wilson IA, Law M. (2016) Structural flexibility at a major conserved antibody target on hepatitis C virus E2 antigen. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113:12768-73. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1609780113
  22. Kong L, Giang E, Nieusma T, Kadam RU, Cogburn KE, Hua Y, Dai X, Stanfield RL, Burton DR, Ward AB, Wilson IA, Law M. (2013) Hepatitis C virus E2 envelope glycoprotein core structure. Science 342:1090-4. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1243876
  23. Giang E, Dorner M, Prentoe JC, Dreux M, Evans MJ, Bukh J, Rice CM, Ploss A, Burton DR, Law M. (2012) Human broadly neutralizing antibodies to the envelope glycoprotein complex of hepatitis C virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:6205-10. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1114927109
  24. Law M, Maruyama T, Lewis J, Giang E, Tarr AW, Stamataki Z, Gastaminza P, Chisari FV, Jones IM, Fox RI, Ball JK, McKeating JA, Kneteman NM, Burton DR. (2008) Broadly neutralizing antibodies protect against hepatitis C virus quasispecies challenge. Nat Med 14:25-7. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1698

Research Reagents

The below monoclonal antibodies are now available through MilliporeSigma:

For large quantity of the mAbs, or other mAbs/antigens, please email Kyle Elliot (kelliot@scripps.edu)