
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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
DARTFORD, UNITED KINGDOM, MAY 5, 2026 When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin ...
06/05/2026
Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...
06/05/2026
How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies Scripps Research team maps how chemical modifications to proteins affect drug bi...
05/05/2026
Experts from the world of academia, tech, business, politics and media convened for a Thomson Talks at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit in April. It's th...
05/05/2026
Three phones were hardwired for power and transmission to the truck; camera feat...
05/05/2026
The creative studio behind campaigns for the NBA, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, ...
05/05/2026
Nielsen has announced results from a co-viewing pilot program covering February&...
05/05/2026
viztrick AiDi, an on-device AI solution developed by Nippon TV, delivered global...
05/05/2026
ARRI has announced Omnibar, a battery-powered, IP65-rated multi-color LED linear...
05/05/2026
Imagine Communications has announced that France T l visions is the first broadc...
05/05/2026
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Bell Media today announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada beginni...
05/05/2026
SVG is proud to announce Warner Bros. Discovery's Techwood Studios in Atlant...
05/05/2026
With no operator required, AutoMic workflow automates talent identification on U...
05/05/2026
A crash in 2015 set the industry back, but this winter proved that drones are he...
05/05/2026
Another year, and more proof that Asia continues to shape some of the world's most exciting new sounds. This year's RADAR artists draw from deep local r...
05/05/2026
The Austin City Limits Music Fest 2026 lineup just dropped, and this year, Spoti...
05/05/2026
New drum machine book campaign incoming
Bjooks have announced that during Superbooth 2026, they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the product...
05/05/2026
Flagship all-in-one production bundle updated
The latest version of Native Instruments' flagship virtual instrument and plug-in bundle has just been ann...
05/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engine...
05/05/2026
L3Harris provides communications, electronic warfare, sensors and mission systems that enable Virginia-class submarine crews to operate with confidence in conte...
05/05/2026
The company grew by 7.6% in net revenue and 16.3% in EBITDA, achieving a 33% inc...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Project Marks First Major Broadcast Deployment of Latest Addition to SNP Lineup
Imagine Communications today announced that France T l visions is the first br...
05/05/2026
Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award
Shotoku Broadcast Systems announced today that its Swoop range of robotic cranes has be...
05/05/2026
DigitalGlue's creative.space Intelligence Wins Future's Best of Show Award, Presented by TV Tech
creative.space Intelligence (CSI), part of the creativ...
05/05/2026
Zixi, a leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, will showcase next-generation broadcast workflows at the Media Production and Technology Show ...
05/05/2026
Stingr marks its launch with a new approach to second-screen interactivity
Brie Clayton May 5, 2026
0 Comments
Huge leap forward in revenues and engag...
05/05/2026
Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award
Brie Clayton May 5, 2026
0 Comments
Shotoku Broadcast Systems announced today tha...
05/05/2026
Following a successful NAB Show in Las Vegas, DHD will promote examples from its wide range of broadcast-quality audio production equipment at the May 13th-14th...
05/05/2026
LucidLink today announced its programme for MPTS 2026, where it will exhibit at Stand M59 at Olympia London, 13 to 14 May. The company will showcase its latest ...
05/05/2026
Limecraft today announces the release of Limecraft 2026.3, the third platform update in its 2026 release cycle. Limecraft is an AI-powered production platform t...
05/05/2026
Huge leap forward in revenues and engagement...
05/05/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading system integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, has taken another significant step in st...
05/05/2026
Operative today announced the appointment of Dang Ly as Chief Product Officer, signaling the company's accelerating commitment to delivering the next genera...
05/05/2026
The Media Talent Manifesto (MTM) today announces the return of the World Skills Caf at IBC2026, positioning the event as a critical industry forum to confront ...
05/05/2026
ARRI unveils Omnibar: compact, modular, battery-powered IP65 LED bars with preci...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Digital Domain Welcomes Award-Nominated VFX Supervisor Jelmer Boskma
Brie Clayton May 4, 2026
0 Comments
Digital Domain, a global leader in visual eff...
05/05/2026
Enterprise AI has learned to generate. It has learned to reason. Now companies are asking the next question: How should AI act?
Early agent systems have shown ...