Viral Protein Alterations Have Similar Impact On HIV, SHIV Specific Antibodies.(Brief Article)

2001 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in New York City have presented evidence in favor of the controversial use of simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV)-based models for HIV vaccine testing.

Susan E. Malenbaum and colleagues at the Rockefeller University's Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center conducted a study comparing the human and macaque immune responses to HIV and SHIV strains with divergent envelope protein features.

Both human and macaque responses were similarly affected by changes in envelope glycoproteins, they said.

Malenbaum and coworkers evaluated the efficacy of antibodies in neutralizing isogenic clade A and B viruses with or without the V3 loop glycan. Both HIV and SHIV-specific antibodies were more effective against glycan-deficient virus strains, according to their report.

Viruses that lacked the V3 loop glycan allowed antibodies greater access to the conserved CD4BS and CD4i epitopes on the crucial gp120 glycoprotein. This may explain the superior neutralization seen against glycan-deficient virus, the researchers noted, and suggests that antibodies targeting these epitopes are common in both humans and macaques.

Serum samples from macaques exposed ...