HIV Isolate From Kenya Provides Clues For Vaccine Design

[J220]

From http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080102222848.htm ...any good news is good news...cheers, J.

HIV Isolate From Kenya Provides Clues For Vaccine Design

ScienceDaily (Jan. 6, 2008) — Two simple changes in its outer envelope protein could render the AIDS virus vulnerable to attack by the immune system, according to research from Kenya and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The results could provide important clues for designing an effective AIDS vaccine, which is badly needed to decrease the number of new HIV infections, now estimated at about 2.5 million per year worldwide.

Although most people infected with HIV produce antibodies against the virus within several weeks following infection, these antibodies rarely prevent the infection from progressing to symptomatic AIDS.

While studying a group of women at risk of HIV in Mombasa, Julie Overbaugh and colleagues noticed that one woman carried an AIDS virus that was easily inactivated by antibodies. They initially described this case in 2007 in the Journal AIDS.

Analyzing this woman's virus, they found that it contains mutations in four amino acids in the envelope protein, two of which, when introduced into unrelated strains of HIV in the laboratory, conferred sensitivity to inactivation by a number of antibodies produced in people infected with HIV.

The researchers propose that these mutations cause a change in the overall structure of the envelope protein that results in exposure to the immune system of regions that are normally hidden. If further research confirms this idea, vaccines containing envelope proteins that include these mutations might be able to stimulate an antibody response that would protect against infection with HIV.

Journal Citation: Blish CA, Nguyen MA, Overbaugh J (2008) Enhancing exposure of HIV-1 neutralization epitopes through mutations in gp41. PLoS Med 5(1): e9 http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050009

Adapted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

[Merlin]

Excellent news. Thanks for the post J22. Now Godspeed for a real vaccine this year!

[bimazek]

wow this is great
this is good news
kind of like the eigen vaccine but much simplier
keep watching dev. in this!

[J220]

Indeed, I have no doubt that discoveries like this one, or one of the many other important ones made in the last year or two, will lead to a cure, mark my words.

[Sherbert]

MERLIN:

I seen a post that you posted a little bit ago about ur lymphnodes and all..and I was just wondering if you had ever found out anything more about it or if you had gotten that massage done and if it helped?

Thanks

Sherbert

[mark86]

Hi,

This may not be for this forum so i apologise if its in the wrong place but....

On a reply above, it states that...

Although most people infected with HIV produce antibodies against the virus within several weeks following infection, these antibodies rarely prevent the infection from progressing to symptomatic AIDS.

which is true... so what is going on in the intervening years between initial infection and AIDS..Isn't the immune system somehow containing the virus...i.e.killing some of it and keeping it in check until it finaly fails and cant do it anymore ?? Are Antibodies actually killing HIV during the Asymptomatic phase

am confused!!!!

Mark86

[redhotmuslbear]

Are Antibodies actually killing HIV during the Asymptomatic phase

No, antibodies just "mark" HIV virions are invaders to be destroyed, but the suppressor and killer cell responses in most people doesn't catch up with the tagged HIV particles which other HIV particles burrow into CD4s to replicate.  Take a look at this slightly long discourse on HIV disease progression:  http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/howhiv.htm

I find it difficult to boil down to a Road Runner and Wile E Coyote analogy without med speak.

Cheers,
David