NIAID to Advance B-Cell Approach to HIV Vaccines

NIAID to Advance B-Cell Approach to HIV Vaccines

by National Institute of Health (NIH), 05/27/08

To advance underdeveloped approaches to designing a preventive HIV vaccine, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is launching a new program to foster the study of B cells, immune cells that can produce antibodies with the capacity to neutralize HIV. The $15.6 million, five-year program will strengthen and expand the scientific foundation of HIV vaccine research through a network of 10 research teams nationwide that will share resources, methods and data to accelerate progress.

In the immune system, B cells recognize key parts of microbes, called antigens. Then, in cooperation with T cells — parts of the immune system that kill cells infected by pathogens — a reaction is triggered that leads B cells to produce antibodies, which can lock onto antigens and sweep them out of the body. HIV is devilishly good at fooling B cells and shielding itself from antibodies or changing its antigenic parts, so antibodies can rarely rid the body of the virus.

The new NIAID research program aims to uncover mechanisms that will enable scientists to outwit HIV and stimulate the B-cell production of long-lasting antibodies that can neutralize many strains of the virus; such antibodies are known as "broadly neutralizing."

"This program reflects our commitment to probe the fundamental science underlying HIV vaccine development," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "The study of B cells and broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV will answer pressing, basic scientific questions and bring greater balance to our portfolio of HIV vaccine discovery research."

In recent years, investigator-initiated grants supported by NIAID have focused more heavily on T-cell based approaches to preventive HIV vaccines than on B-cell based ones. Many experts believe a successful HIV vaccine will probably need to activate both T cells and B cells; consequently, NIAID's creation of the new B-cell research program is an important stimulus for HIV vaccine discovery.

Some evidence suggests that the program's goal of eliciting broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV, although extremely difficult, may be feasible. Scientists have discovered that some HIV-infected individuals naturally but rarely produce broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV. Giving such antibodies experimentally to monkeys protected the animals from HIV infection after exposure to the virus. Scientists now face the challenge of how to stimulate the human immune system to predictably produce broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV through
vaccination.

NIAID is a component of the NIH. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at www.niaid.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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