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Researchers at Rockefeller
University, New York, appear to have found another approach to treating HIV
infection. They have shown that it is possible to harness proteins from the
human immune system to suppress the virus in mice without the need for daily application
as is done with current antiretroviral drugs. Using a combination of five
different antibodies, Florian Klein and colleagues at Michel Nussenzweig’s
Laboratory of Molecular Immunology were able to effectively suppress HIV-1
replication and prevent the virus for 60 days after termination of therapy.
They used “humanized mice” as normal mice do not have the receptors to be
infected with HIV-1.
HIV-1 evades the human immune
system’s attacks by mutating; but with the combination of the new antibodies,
mutation did not work. The antibodies target HIV-1’s surface protein, gp160, a
molecule that forms a spike that attaches to host cells. Five antibodies in
unison were required to stop gp160. The five antibodies were too complicated
for gp160 to mutate in time to avoid them. The antibodies, called broadly
neutralizing antibodies, were recently discovered. They were identified and
cloned from HIV-infected patients whose immune systems had an unusually high
ability to neutralize HIV. These antibodies have been able to prevent HIV from
infecting non-human primates, which leads to a possibility of a vaccine for
humans. However, it was felt that they would have little or no effect on
established infections.
Klein stated that the results are
encouraging enough to prompt an investigation of these antibodies in clinical
trials. He surmised that a combination of antibodies and antiretroviral therapy
may lead to a treatment for humans that will not require daily medication.
The study, “HIV Therapy by a
Combination of Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies in Humanized Mice,” was
published in the journal Nature (2012; 492 (7427):118 DOI:
10.1038/nature11604).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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