Washington:
Scientists have assembled a group of state-of-the-art techniques, which they claim could someday open the gateway to studying the phenomenon of natural antibody-mediated HIV neutralisation.
Previous research has shown that some individuals who control HIV infection without medication naturally produce antibodies able to neutralise diverse strains of HIV.
Now, an international team, led by the Rockefeller University, has launched a new project to demonstrate how this system can actually isolate dozens of HIV-specific antibodies from a single HIV-infected individual, something that's never accomplished before, the <i>Nature</i> journal reported.
According to the scientists, applied prospectively to a large group of HIV-infected individuals, the system will enable to identify and define the diverse set of neutralising antibodies that arise during HIV infection, information that may prove important in vaccine development.
In fact, the process begins with collecting memory B cells, which produce antibodies, from HIV-infected individuals earlier screened for strong neutralising antibody responses.
These B cells are incubated with a specially flagged protein from the outer shell of an HIV virus particle. The HIV -specific memory B cells bind to the flagged protein, enabling researchers to identify these cells, isolate and store them. Then, for each of the HIV-specific memory B cells, a pioneering technique expresses the genes that code for HIV- specific antibodies. Finally, assays help scientists determine which of these antibodies can effectively neutralise HIV.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
