Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

November 18, 2019

19/11/2019

Experimental HIV vaccine successfully elicits broadly neutralizing antibodies to the virus Vaccinated rabbits produce antibodies to at least two vulnerable sites on HIV.

November 18, 2019

LA JOLLA, CA An experimental HIV vaccine developed by scientists at Scripps Research and the nonprofit vaccine research organization IAVI has reached an important milestone by eliciting antibodies that can neutralize a wide variety of HIV strains.

The tests, in rabbits, showed that these broadly neutralizing antibodies, or bnAbs, targeted at least two critical sites on the virus. Researchers widely assume that a vaccine must elicit bnAbs to multiple sites on HIV if it is to provide robust protection against this ever-changing virus.

The promising results, which appear in Immunity, suggest that researchers are one step closer to developing an effective HIV vaccine a major goal of medical science ever since the virus was identified in 1983.

It's an initial proof of principle but an important one, and we're now working to optimize this vaccine design, says the study's senior author Richard Wyatt, PhD, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research.

According to UNAIDS, about 35 million people worldwide have died of the immunodeficiency syndrome, AIDS, which is caused by HIV infection. About 38 million others are now living with HIV infection. Antiviral drugs can keep HIV-infected people alive and reduce their ability to transmit the virus to others, but these drugs do not clear the infection and must be taken indefinitely. Researchers have long recognized that a preventive vaccine, available at a low cost to uninfected people, will be needed to eliminate HIV as a major public health threat.

HIV's rapid mutation rate and other mechanisms for evading immune attack have made it an extremely difficult target for vaccine designers. But the test conducted by Wyatt and his team confirms that vaccination can elicit the kinds of antibodies that are needed to provide broad protection against HIV. These bnAbs, as vaccine experts call them, can neutralize multiple HIV strains because they bind to critical sites on the virus that do not vary much from strain to strain. People who are infected with HIV sometimes produce bnAbs as part of their antibody response, but infrequently and usually after infection has been long established. The chief challenge for HIV vaccine designers has been to find ways to stimulate the immune system in most or all individuals into making bnAbs that hit multiple vulnerable sites on the virus, in order to protect against a high proportion of HIV strains.

At the heart of the vaccine design by Wyatt and colleagues is a virus-mimicking protein based on HIV's Env protein. Normally, multiple copies of bush-like Env proteins are spread out on the surface of each spherical HIV particle. Each Env protein contains a molecular mechanism that allows it to bind to a receptor on immune cells known as CD4, and use that receptor as a portal to break into the cell. The researchers engineered a version of Env that models the essential structures on the real Env while being stable enough to use as a vaccine. To present it in a way that would resemble a real HIV virus particle, they created virus-sized synthetic spheres of fat-related molecules, liposomes, which are studded densely with the engineered Env proteins.

On a natural HIV Env protein, thickets of sugar-related molecules called glycans normally help shield the all-important CD4 binding site from immune attack. As an initial priming immunization, the researchers used versions of Env in which this glycan shield around the CD4 binding site had been partly removed.

The idea was to better expose this site and thereby stimulate a broad antibody reaction to it at the start, Wyatt says.

Subsequent booster immunizations over 48 weeks used Env proteins with restored glycans, to select for antibodies that target the CD4 binding site but can also get through this shield. The Env proteins in the booster shots also were mixes based on different strains of HIV, to generally promote antibody responses against Env structures that do not vary among these strains.

The team inoculated 12 rabbits following their vaccine strategy and compared the results with a control group that received only a single, glycan-shielded version of Env. They found that their vaccine strategy had a much better response, with five of the rabbits developing antibodies that could neutralize multiple HIV isolates.

The researchers analyzed the antibodies of the rabbit that had responded most strongly, and identified two distinct types of bnAb. One, which they called E70, blocks the CD4 binding site as expected, though in an unusual way partly by grabbing one of the shielding glycans. The other, 1C2, hits a different but well known vulnerable spot on Env, at the interface between two key segments of the complex protein. The binding of antibody 1C2 apparently destabilizes Env so that it can no longer mediate HIV's entry into host cells. That antibody also turned out to have an unusual breadth of neutralization, blocking 87 percent of a panel of 208 distinct HIV isolates.

The finding is an important demonstration that vaccination against HIV, if done in the right way, can achieve the goal of inducing bnAbs to multiple sites on the virus, Wyatt says.

The team of scientists are continuing to test and improve their vaccine strategy in small animal models and hope eventually to test it in monkeys and then humans.

The co-lead authors of the study, Vaccination with Glycan-Modified HIV NFL Envelope Trimer-Liposomes Elicits Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies to Multiple Sites of Vulnerability, were Viktoriya Dubrovskaya, PhD, and Gabriel Ozorowski, PhD, of Scripps Research and Karen Tran, PhD, of the IAVI Neutralizing Antibod
LINK: https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2019/20191118-wyatt...
See more stories from scripps

North America Stories

14/07/2025

L3Harris Secures Contract for Royal Moroccan Air Force C-130 Fleet Upgrade

The Royal Moroccan Air Force hosted a C-130 award ceremony with L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert a...

14/07/2025

Nielsen launches CTV Ad Spend Data into its UK Ad Intel product

UK launch set for September, following on from recent US and Germany releases London - UK, July 14, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, da...

14/07/2025

Telycam Unveils Elgato Stram Deck Plug-in for PTZ Camera Portfolio

SHENZHEN, China Telycam has added control options for its portfolio of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with a new plug-in for Elgato's Stream Deck family of con...

14/07/2025

Nominations Now Open for Best of Show Awards at IBC2025

The awards are open to IBC2025 show exhibitors and offer a valuable platform for companies to raise awareness for the new products and solutions they will be la...

14/07/2025

Clear-Com Expands Arcadia Central Station with Updates In...

Clear-Com is excited to announce a significant expansion of the award-winning Arcadia Central Station with new software updates. Together, these releases dram...

14/07/2025

Daktronics and Grass Valley Announce Strategic Partnershi...

Grass Valley and Daktronics today announced a strategic technology partnership that unites Grass Valley's live production expertise with Daktronics' lea...

14/07/2025

Veset Partners with swXtch io to Deliver Cloud Multicasti...

Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset, and swXtch.io, provider of cloud-based multicast and reliable networking solutions, are partnering to deliver multicast...

14/07/2025

Tintri Supercharges Global Partner Programme with Powerfu...

Tintri , a DDN subsidiary and leader in AI-powered data management solutions, today announces a game-changing and award-winning refresh to its global Partner P...

14/07/2025

HighField AI Now Commercially Available Advancing Broadca...

HighField AI, the broadcast industry's first agentic and multimodal AI platform for automating graphics production, is now commercially available. Developed...

14/07/2025

Encompass powers DAZN global broadcast of FIFA Club World...

Encompass Digital Media has today announced that it has been delivering a complex global services project for DAZN, the world s leading sports entertainment pla...

14/07/2025

MASV Showcases the Future of Mass File Movement and Monet...

MASV (massive.io), the fastest, most reliable large file transfer platform trusted by over 10,000 global organizations, announced today it will showcase its nex...

14/07/2025

Calrec to unveil new Argo Software Updates at IBC 2025 an...

Calrec is introducing a series of usability, customisation and system enhancements across the entire range of Argo consoles at IBC 2025, on Stand 8.C47. Look ou...

14/07/2025

ITV selects Fincons Group as strategic partner for their...

Fincons Group, IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce a new engagement...

14/07/2025

Intinor Showcases Enhanced User Experience and Workflow F...

Stand 5.F45, IBC2025, Amsterdam, 12 15 September 2025 Intinor returns to IBC to present the latest updates to its Direkt series. A key development on show is ...

14/07/2025

Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL

Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL Featuring a custom dynamic boom mic, the headset will debut in the fall By Dan Da...

14/07/2025

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on the Weeklong Efforts in Atlanta

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on th...

14/07/2025

Netflix ISP Speed Index for June 2025

Back to All News Netflix ISP Speed Index for June 2025 Product 14 July 2025 Global Link copied to clipboard One percent of Internet Service Providers (ISP...

14/07/2025

Netflix Begins Filming 'The Map of Longing' With Alcia Falc, Pablo lvarez, and Georgina Amors

Back to All News Netflix Begins Filming The Map of Longing With Al cia Falc , P...

14/07/2025

100 Days In: Building Forward at Grass Valley

This July marks 100 days since I officially stepped into the role of CEO at Grass Valley, a milestone not of abrupt change, but of confident continuity. Unlike...

13/07/2025

Netflix Expands B&B Universe' with Yu Jae Seok's B&B (WT) and Kian's Bizarre B&B Season 2

Back to All News Netflix Expands B&B Universe' with Yu Jae Seok's B&B ...

13/07/2025

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB Draft Coverage

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB...

12/07/2025

Retracing Ryan Coogler's Sundance Institute Journey

Ryan Coogler accepting the 2013 Vanguard Award. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez. Editor's Note: In honor of Fruitvale Station s 12th anniversary, we're d...

12/07/2025

Key Code Education Launches New Adobe Premiere Pro Engineer Certification

Key Code Education, the professional training division of Key Code Media, proudly announces a major update to its Adobe Premiere Pro Engineering and Advanced Op...

12/07/2025

Key Code Education Launches New Hands-On Training Programs for Ross Video, Vizrt, EditShare, and SNS

Key Code Education, a leader in instructor-led post production training for over...

12/07/2025

TV Station Groups Launch Texas Flood Relief Efforts

As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...

12/07/2025

DirecTV Adds ViX Premium With Ads to MiEspaol Genre Pack

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...

11/07/2025

2025 Sundance Institute Producers Lab Fellows Announced

PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...

11/07/2025

L3Harris Delivers First P-8A Poseidon Aircraft to US Navy

L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...

11/07/2025

WETA Launches WETA+ Free Streaming Service

ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...

11/07/2025

TV Tech's Top Regulatory Stories of 2025

The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...

11/07/2025

Calrec to Feature Suite of Interconnected Audio Solutions at IBC2025

Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...

11/07/2025

Encompass Supports DAZN's Coverage of 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...

11/07/2025

SBE Survey: Certified Broadcast Engineers Earn More

Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....

11/07/2025

SmallHD Unveils Quantum 27 OLED Monitor

CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...

11/07/2025

Tegna Will Pay $225K to Settle FCC Investigation

The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...

11/07/2025

Sens. Markey, Lujn Again Call for FCC Vote on Paramount-Skydance Merger

WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...

11/07/2025

Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...

11/07/2025

Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks Adjusts Broadcast Booths for Rangers, Devils

Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...

11/07/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Clients' Needs With Scalable Cloud-Based Storage

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...

11/07/2025

2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transition to the Cloud

2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...

11/07/2025

A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP

A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff Friday, July 1...

11/07/2025

CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimbledon

CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...

11/07/2025

Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-Serrano 3 Card at MSG

Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...

11/07/2025

'Too Hot to Handle: Italy' Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix

Back to All News Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix Entertainment 11 July 2025 GlobalItaly Link copied to clipboard July 11, 20...

11/07/2025

Netflix Will Release 'Death Inc.' Seasons 1, 2 and 3

Back to All News Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 Entertainment 11 July 2025 GlobalSpain Link copied to clipboard Season 1 Season 2 Se...

11/07/2025

A Gaming GPU Helps Crack the Code on a Thousand-Year Cultural Conversation

Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia. From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...

10/07/2025

Nielsen Appoints Richard Pacheco as Head of Global Partnerships

NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...

10/07/2025

Sponsored: Robotic Deployments Are Transforming Local News

Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...

10/07/2025

Stuttgart Media University Upgrades Studio with Lawo mc56

Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...

10/07/2025

SMPTE Opens Early Bird Registration for Media Technology Summit

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...