Novel Vaccine Concept Generates Immune Responses that Could Produce Multiple Types of HIV Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies

Boston Children’s Hospital; the University of Louisville School of Medicine; Dartmouth College; Emory University; the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom; and Moderna, Inc. (Cambridge, MA) have successfully stimulated animals' immune systems to induce rare precursor B cells of a class of HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies. The researchers engineered immunogens – molecules used in vaccines that elicit a specific immune system response – on nanoparticles that mimic the appearance of a specific part of a protein found on the surface of HIV. These observations suggest that the promising immunization data (from mice and macaques) has the potential for translation to humans.