No. of views : (3942)
A new antibody discovered which can target HIV virus
Posted on: 14/Sep/2015 12:04:04 PM
A study published in the journal `Cell` has claimed that an antibody has been identified that will help detect and neutralise the HIV virus more effectively. Many believe that one way of preventing the viral infection is by using proteins called broadly Neutralising Antibodies (bNAbs). These have been found in the blood of this patients who have been infected by the HIV virus but whose immune systems can still control the infection naturally.
According to researchers at the California Institute of technology, the bNAbs can recognise a protein called envelope spike, which can, in turn, protect the healthy cells of the infected patient. The protein is found in all HIV strains, and helps to inhibit or neutralise the effects of the virus. A particular bNAb is believed to recognise the envelope spike protein.
HIV infection begins after the virus come in contact with T cells in the human body. T cells are the immune cells which carry a protein called CD4 on their surface. The envelope spikes that are on the surface of the virus. These latch on to the CD4 proteins in the cells. The spike are either in a closed or an open conformation. They go from closed to open when the protein bringing takes place.
Last year, researchers from the Rockefeller University said that there is an initial characterisation of bNAb called 8ANC195. This characterisation is believed to be very potent and is found in the blood of HIV patients whose immune systems can control their infections naturally. Researchers discovered that the antibody was able to neutralise the virus. This was done by targeting a different epitope than the bNAb that was identified previously.
Say the researchers, We think it`s actually an advantage if the antibody can recognise these different forms... So 8ANC195 is one more antibody that we can use therapeutically; it targets a different epitope than other potent antibodies, and it has the advantage of being able to recognise these multiple conformations... (We) are already testing bNAbs in a human treatment in a clinical trial.
