Abstract
Vaccines that protect against viral infection usually elicit neutralizing antibodies, but HIV-1 vaccine candidates have failed to induce broad and potent such responses. Broadly active neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) do, however, slowly emerge in a minority of HIV-1-infected subjects; and passive immunization with bNAbs protects against viral acquisition in animal models of HIV-1 infection. New techniques have made it possible to interrogate human B cells and thereby to isolate highly potent bNAbs to uncharted epitope clusters. Furthermore, recent high-resolution structure determinations of near-native soluble envelope glycoprotein trimers in complex with different bNAbs reveal the molecular basis for neutralization. Such trimer structures may serve as blueprints for vaccine design. Here we discuss how a vaccine might bridge a reactivity gap from germline antibody to bNAb and simulate the intricate stimuli of affinity maturation that sometimes prevail in chronic infection
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 449-452 |
Journal | Expert Review of Vaccines |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |