Posts
According to Barton Haynes, director
of the Duke University Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University School of
Medicine, Duke researchers may have discovered how to stimulate production of
“broadly neutralizing” antibodies, which could lead to the development of an
HIV vaccine. The ability of an African patient to continue producing broadly
neutralizing antibodies, even after the virus has mutated, is the basis for the
breakthrough. Approximately 20 percent of people infected with HIV generate
antibodies that are able to neutralize HIV effectively in its initial and
mutated forms.
Haynes explained that the first
round of broadly neutralizing antibodies appears approximately 14 weeks after
the initial HIV infection. This first generation of antibodies binds to a part
of the virus that does not change as easily or rapidly, so the antibodies are a
potential target for vaccine research. Duke researchers collected blood samples
from 400 HIV patients for three years from the time of infection, and mapped
the sequential mutations of the virus that stimulated subsequent, weaker
generations of antibodies. With this map of antibody development over three
years, the research team believes it is possible to stimulate the immune system
to produce more of the first generation of broadly neutralizing antibodies,
instead of the “subsequent iterations” the immune system produces in response
to HIV mutations.
Because each person generates
“unique versions” of broadly neutralizing antibodies that differ in
effectiveness, Haynes believes it will be necessary to map individual pathways
to broadly neutralizing antibodies and find commonalities that can be used in a
vaccine.
The full report, “Co-evolution of a
Broadly Neutralizing HIV-1 Antibody and Founder Virus,” was published online in
the journal Nature (2013; doi: 10.1038/nature12053).
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.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
