Kenyan woman may provide clues to effective AIDS vaccine
(Stylized rendering of a cross section of the AIDS virus)
New HIV infections are averaging around 2.5m per annum worldwide, and growing.
Most people infected with HIV produce antibodies against the virus within several weeks following infection, these antibodies rarely prevent the infection from progressing to symptomatic AIDS.
However a recent study involving a group of women from Mombasa, Kenya at risk of HIV infection identified one woman who carried an AIDS virus that was easily inactivated by antibodies. Analyzing this woman’s virus, they found that it contained mutations in four amino acids in the envelope protein, two of which, when introduced into unrelated strains of HIV in the laboratory, conferred sensitivity to inactivation by a number of antibodies produced in people infected with HIV.
The results could provide important clues for designing an effective AIDS vaccine, which is badly needed.
For further information, please click on the following link:
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050009
Elaine Warburton
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POSTED IN: AIDS, Companion diagnostics, General Genetics and Health, Genetic Engineering, Genetic Future, Genetic Ingenuity, Genetic Testing, HIV, Personalized Medicine, Population genetics
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