Scientists find new point of attack on HIV for vaccine development

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) have discovered a new vulnerable site on HIV that antibodies can attack to prevent infection from a broad range of the virus’ many variants. “HIV has very few known sites of vulnerability, but in this work we’ve described a new one, and we expect it will be useful in developing a vaccine,” said Dennis R. Burton, professor in TSRI’s Department of Immunology and Microbial Science and scientific director of the IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center (NAC) and of the National Institutes of Health’s Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery (CHAVI-ID). “HIV mutates very quickly, within the individual and across populations,” said IAVI Chief Scientific Officer Wayne Koff. “This new target offers a stable mark for vaccine design, increasing the potential to find a vaccine that can provide broad, lasting protection to people around the world.” The findings, reported...