[Report] HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody precursor B cells revealed by germline-targeting immunogen

Thursday, March 24, 2016 - 13:52 in Biology & Nature

Induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) is a major HIV vaccine goal. Germline-targeting immunogens aim to initiate bnAb induction by activating bnAb germline precursor B cells. Critical unmet challenges are to determine whether bnAb precursor naïve B cells bind germline-targeting immunogens and occur at sufficient frequency in humans for reliable vaccine responses. Using deep mutational scanning and multitarget optimization, we developed a germline-targeting immunogen (eOD-GT8) for diverse VRC01-class bnAbs. We then used the immunogen to isolate VRC01-class precursor naïve B cells from HIV-uninfected donors. Frequencies of true VRC01-class precursors, their structures, and their eOD-GT8 affinities support this immunogen as a candidate human vaccine prime. These methods could be applied to germline targeting for other classes of HIV bnAbs and for Abs to other pathogens. Authors: Joseph G. Jardine, Daniel W. Kulp, Colin Havenar-Daughton, Anita Sarkar, Bryan Briney, Devin Sok, Fabian Sesterhenn, June Ereño-Orbea, Oleksandr Kalyuzhniy, Isaiah Deresa, Xiaozhen Hu, Skye Spencer,...

Read the whole article on Science NOW

More from Science NOW

Latest Science Newsletter

Get the latest and most popular science news articles of the week in your Inbox! It's free!

Check out our next project, Biology.Net