Antibody is an infection-fighting protein produced by our immune system when it detects harmful substances.
In what is a major breakthrough and a welcome news amidst a string of failed attempts to combat the virus that causes AIDS, scientists have reported the first successful human study using antibody therapy which has been specifically designed to block the key viral protein receptor needed to infect human blood cells.
HIV antibodies previously tested in humans had shown disappointing results.
But 3BNC117 belongs to a new generation of broadly neutralizing antibodies that potently fight a wide range of HIV strains.
"What's special about these antibodies is that they have activity against over 80% of HIV strains and they are extremely potent," says Marina Caskey from the Rockefeller University.
Scientists say 3BNC117 shows activity against 195 out of 237 HIV strains.
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) recently discovered 17 antibodies which blocked HIV infection of cells. These HIV neutralizing antibodies are produced naturally by a minority infected with HIV, but who show no symptoms. The new antibodies that target the CD4 binding site on HIV — the site where the virus engages the T cells to initiate its infection — was isolated from blood serum samples across the world.
There is a global hunt for 'broadly neutralizing antibody' (bNab) from the blood of HIV patients. These antibodies are capable of stopping the HIV virus from entering blood cells and replicating, thereby arresting an HIV-infected person's progression to AIDS. Scientists are isolating and then cloning these antibodies to harness them as therapeutic agents.
In the latest study, uninfected and HIV-infected individuals were intravenously given a single dose of the antibody and monitored for 56 days. At the highest dosage levels, 30 milligrams per kilogram of weight, all eight infected individuals treated showed up to 300-fold decreases in the amount of virus measured in their blood, with most reaching their lowest viral load one week after treatment.
Finding a vaccine against HIV has been a daunting challenge.
Scientists say these antibodies would ultimately reveal the Achilles heel of HIV and help create the elusive vaccine. There are around 30 million people living with HIV.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/followceleb.cms?alias=Rockefeller University,Marina Caskey
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