Sorting out HIV: Research collaboration devises a new method that could speed up vaccine development for HIV
The technique will enable scientists to identify specific features in the proteins on the virus's surface which are recognized by the immune system and elicit a response similar to that seen in elite controllers -- patients that are able to survive without antiviral treatment. Around 1% of patients with HIV -- known as elite controllers -- are able to survive without antiviral treatment, because their immune systems produce certain kinds of HIV-specific antibodies: proteins that recognise features on the surface of the virus and bind to them, making the virus inactive. The challenge in developing an HIV vaccine is to identify specific features in the proteins on the virus's surface which are recognized by the immune system and elicit a response similar to that seen in elite controllers. A widely used technique for studying proteins on the surfaces of cells -- which is sometimes also used with viruses -- is fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). You take a sample of ...