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NIH-Led Scientists Boost Potential of Passive Immunization Against HIV
Researchers Mutate VRC01 Antibody So It Lasts Longer in Blood and Key Tissues
Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014
WHAT:
Scientists are pursuing injections or intravenous infusions of broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies (bNAbs) as a strategy for preventing HIV
infection. This technique, called passive immunization, has been shown to protect monkeys from a monkey form of HIV called simian human
immunodeficiency virus, or SHIV. To make passive immunization a widely feasible HIV prevention option for people, scientists want to
modify bNAbs such that a modest amount of them is needed only once every few months.
To that end, an NIH-led team of scientists has mutated the powerful anti-HIV bNAb called VRC01 so that, once infused
into monkeys, it lasts three times longer in blood than unmutated VRC01, collects in rectal mucosal tissue, and persists there more
than twice as long as unmutated VRC01. Concentrating anti-HIV bNAbs at mucosal surfaces of the rectum and vagina, the subject of
additional study, is critical for blocking sexual transmission of HIV.
In addition, the scientists found, a low-dose infusion of mutated VRC01 protected monkeys against SHIV infection more
effectively than a low-dose infusion of unmutated VRC01. The mutation works by enhancing VRC01's ability to bind to a cellular
protein that prevents the antibody from degrading inside cells and influences how frequently the antibody reaches mucosal
surfaces and stays there, the researchers report. This finding may inform antibody-based prevention strategies against
not only HIV but also other viruses that invade the body at mucosal surfaces, including rotavirus, poliovirus,
norovirus and influenza virus.
Next, the researchers will test infusions of mutated VRC01 in people to learn if it concentrates in mucosal tissues and
persists there and in blood for an extended period.
ARTICLE: S-Y Ko, et al. Enhanced neonatal Fc receptor function improves protection against primate
SHIV infection. Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature13612 (2014).
WHO: NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. and NIAID Vaccine Research Director John R. Mascola, M.D., are
available for interviews.
CONTACT: To schedule interviews, please contact Laura S. Leifman, (301) 402-1663, niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov.
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NIAID conducts and supports research-at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide-to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated
diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related
materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov .
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): 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. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical,
and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.
For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov/ .
Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
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