Durham Reporter

Researchers at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute have developed a new strategy that could potentially guide the immune system to produce highly specific antibodies against HIV through vaccination. This approach aims to counteract the virus's ability to evade the immune response.

The study, published in Nature Communications, outlines a method for engineering components of the HIV envelope to stimulate protective antibody production. Barton Haynes, M.D., director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and senior author of the study, explained, "To achieve this, we have to find the right antibody and then guide it along the way toward key mutations that are really rare."

Haynes further elaborated on their findings: "What we have found is that the immune system does not want to make protective anti-HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies unless it receives some help. This study demonstrates that, with the help of computer simulations, we were able to find the right HIV envelope immunogens to guide the immune system to make the desired antibody types."

Lead author Rory Henderson, Ph.D., utilized molecular dynamics simulation—a computational technique—to determine how specific antibody mutations can prevent HIV from evading neutralization. Henderson stated, "A lot of work has been done with what we call priming -- getting that gene to start to express and start seeing the antigen. What we've never been able to do is coax it toward a specific mutation, which is what we would need for a vaccine. Our study showed how we can do that."

The research focuses on inducing broadly neutralizing antibodies capable of binding at four distinct sites on HIV's envelope. The current work targets two such antibody types.

In addition to Haynes and Henderson, contributors include Kara Anasti, Kartik Manne, Victoria Stalls, Carrie Saunders, Yishak Bililign, Ashliegh Williams, Pimthada Bubphamala, Maya Montani, Sangita Kachhap, Jingjing Li, Chuancang Jaing, Amanda Newman, Derek W. Cain, Xiaozhi Lu Sravani Venkatayogi Madison Berry Kshitij Wagh Bette Korber Kevin O Saunders Ming Tian Fred Alt Kevin Wiehe Priyamvada Acharya and S Munir Alam.

The study was funded by several grants from institutions such as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under its Division of AIDS Consortia for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development.