Capitalizing on a new insight into HIV’s methodology for evading antibodies — proteins produced by the immune system to identify and wipe out invading objects such as viruses — Caltech researchers have developed antibody-based molecules that are more than 100 times better than our bodies’ own defenses at binding to and neutralizing HIV, when tested in vitro.
The work suggests a novel approach that could be used to engineer more effective HIV-fighting drugs.
Such therapeutics could potentially work at relatively low concentrations, and they are less likely to be affected by mutations of the virus, the researchers say. “If you were able to give this to someone who already had HIV, you might even be able to clear the infection,” says Caltech’s Dr. Pamela Bjorkman, the Max Delbruck Professor of Biology and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The complete Caltech news story is at http://www.caltech.edu/news/genetically-engineered-antibodies-show-enhanced-hiv-fighting-abilities-45491.
Add a comment
