AIDS vaccine
AIDS Vaccine Research: Better By Design?
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Caption: eOD-GT8 60mer nanoparticle based on the engineered protein eOD-GT8. Yellow shows where eOD-GT8 binds antibodies; white is the protein surface outside the binding site; light blue indicates the sugars attached to the protein; dark blue is the nanoparticle core to which eOD-GT8 has been fused.
Credit: Sergey Menis and William Schief, The Scripps Research Institute
A while ago, I highlighted a promising new approach for designing a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS. This strategy would “take the immune system to school” and teach it a series of lessons using several vaccine injections—each consisting of a different HIV proteins designed to push the immune system, step by step, toward the production of protective antibodies capable of fending off virtually all HIV strains. But a big unanswered question was whether most people actually possess the specific type of precursor immune cells that that can be taught to produce antibodies that kill HIV.
Now, we may have the answer [1]. In a study published in the journal Science, a research team, partly supported by NIH, found that the majority of people do indeed have these precursor cells. While the total number of these cells in each person may be low, this may be all that’s needed for the immune system to recognize a vaccine. Based in part on these findings, researchers plan to launch a Phase 1 clinical trial in human volunteers to see if their latest engineered protein can find these precursor cells and begin coaxing them through the complicated process of producing protective antibodies.
Toward an AIDS-Free Generation: Can Antibodies Help?
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Caption: Left: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV); Right: VRC01 antibody (blue and green) binding to HIV (grey and red). The VRC01-HIV binding (red) takes place where the virus attaches to primary immune cells.
Credits: C. Bickel, Science Translational Medicine; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
This year, an estimated 50,000 Americans will learn they have been newly infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS [1]. The good news is that if these people are diagnosed and receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) promptly, most will enjoy a near-normal lifespan.The bad news is that, barring any further research advances, they will have to take ART every day for the rest of their lives, a regimen that’s inconvenient and may cause unpleasant side effects. Clearly, a new generation of safe, effective, and longer-lasting treatments to keep HIV in check is very much needed.
That’s why I’m encouraged to see some early signs of progress emerging from a small, NIH-supported clinical trial of an HIV-neutralizing antibody. While the results need to be replicated in much larger studies, researchers discovered that a single infusion of the antibody reduced levels of HIV in the bloodstreams of several HIV-infected individuals by more than 10-fold [2]. Furthermore, the study found that this antibody—known as a broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) for its ability to defend against a wide range of HIV strains—is well tolerated and remained in the participants’ bloodstreams for weeks.
Study Suggests Alternative Approach to AIDS Vaccine
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Caption: A decoy protein that mimics the CD4 receptor (red), the CCR5 receptor (green), and a natural antibody (grey), binds to the HIV envelope protein (three white blobs) and blocks it from infecting immune cells.
Credit: Michael Farzan
Over more than a century, researchers have succeeded in developing vaccines to prevent polio, smallpox, cervical cancer, and many other viral diseases. For three decades now, they have tried to design an effective vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. Despite plenty of hard work, lots of great science, and some promising advances along the way, an effective traditional vaccine still remains elusive. That has encouraged consideration of alternative approaches to block HIV infection.
Now in the journal Nature [1], an NIH-funded team reports promising early results with one of these interesting alternatives. The team hypothesized that producing a protein that binds to HIV and prevents it from entering cells might provide protection. So they designed such a protein, and, using an animal model, introduced multiple copies of a gene that makes this protein. In a small study of non-human primates, this gene-therapy approach blocked HIV infection, even when the animals were exposed repeatedly to large doses of the virus.
