Women Health Online

HIV is coated in sugars that usually hide the virus from the immune system Newly published research reveals how one broadly neutralizing HIV antibody actually uses part of the sugary cloak to help bind to the virus The antibody binding site, called the V1/V2 region, represents a suitable HIV vaccine target, according to the scientists who conducted the study In addition, their research reveals the detailed structure of the V1/V2 region, the last part of the virus surface to be visualized at the atomic level

The study was led by Peter D Kwong, PhD, chief of the Structural Biology Section of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health

Some people who have been infected with HIV for several years begin to make antibodies that can neutralize a wide range of virus strains These broadly neutralizing antibodies bind to one of four sites on the virus One site involves a sugar at a spot called amino acid residue 160 Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins The sugar is located on the protein-based spikes that jut out of the surface of HIV

The new study demonstrates how a broadly neutralizing HIV antibody called PG9 disarms the virus by grabbing hold of the sugar at residue 160, along with part of a second sugar and a short string of amino acid residues in the V1/V2 region of an HIV spike

Similarly, a separate, recently published report from the IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center at The Scripps Research Institute showed how a different broadly neutralizing HIV antibody also binds to the virus via two sugars and a string of amino acid residues Taken together, these two studies indicate that in some cases, the combination of viral sugars and amino acids can form the binding site for broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies

The new study may also help scientists who are examining data from the clinical trial of the first HIV vaccine to demonstrate effectiveness in people Recent analyses of blood samples from that trial showed that study participants who were vaccinated and then developed antibodies to the V1/V2 region were less likely to become infected Although the role of those antibodies in protection against HIV is unknown, this finding underscores how understanding antibody-V1/V2 binding could aid the design of a more effective HIV vaccine

JS McLellan et al, Structure of HIV-1 gp120 V1V2 domain with broadly neutralizing antibody PG9 Nature DOI: 101038/nature10696 2011

R Pejchal et al, A potent and broad neutralizing antibody recognizes and penetrates the HIV glycan shield Science DOI: 101126/science1213256 2011

WHO: Gary J Nabel, MD, PhD, coauthor and director of the NIAID Vaccine Research Center, and Jason S McLellan, PhD, first coauthor and research fellow in the NIAID Vaccine Research Center, are available for interviews

CONTACT: To schedule an interview, please contact Laura Sivitz Leifman, 301 402-1663,

NIAID conducts and supports researchat NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide – to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses

About the National Institutes of Health NIH: NIH, the nations medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the US Department of Health and Human Services NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases

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