2.3 million Dollar funding for HIV vaccine development: RUB researchers want to trick immune system

To support their research for a vaccine against the HI-Virus, Prof. Dr. Klaus Überla of the Faculty for Medicine at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and his research team will receive $2.3 million in funding within the next three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The scientists are part of the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD), which seeks to speed up the development of an HIV-vaccine through a rigorous exchange of information, methods and reagents.

“The project rests upon our observation that certain immunological reactions seem to increase the risk of HIV-infection,” Prof. Überla said. “We want to avoid these kinds of harmful immune system responses while still creating protective antibodies.”

Earlier study: HIV-vaccine increases risk of infection
Prior attempts to develop vaccines against HIV have not been successful. The preparation that was used in the Merck Pharmacy’s so-called STEP study actually increases HIV susceptibility. “It is extraordinarily important to understand why the vaccine has this effect,” Überla said. “These findings could have an enormous impact on the development of future substances.” By building on the findings of the STEP study, the research team plans to develop a new vaccine that will undergo in vivo testing.

T helper cells: HIV-proliferation vs. antibody production
Earlier studies have shown that certain antibodies against the envelope proteins of HIV could protect from HIV infection. Important for such antibody production are the CD4 T helper cells. Different kinds of these T helper cells recognize different pathogens in the body and signal other cells to create the appropriate antibodies in response to the invasive microorganisms. However, reactive CD4 T helper cells are also where HIV multiples particularly quickly. Therefore, if the number of HIV-responsive CD4 T helper cells increases as a result of the vaccine, the effect is simultaneously helpful and hurtful.

Helping, not hurting
The aim of the research project “Induction of affinity-matured HIV Env antibodies in the absence of HIV-specific T helper cells” is to investigate a new immunization method. Scientists associated with the project want to produce HIV antibodies through the use of T helper cells whose purpose is the recognition of other pathogens, rather than those which recognize the presence of HIV. This would mean that the number of T helper cells which respond to HIV would not go up through vaccination, thereby making it more difficult for HIV to multiply. The effectiveness of this new immunization method will be determined in cooperation with Dr. Stahl-Henning of the German Primate Center in Göttingen.
Further information

Prof. Dr. Klaus Überla, Department for Molecular and Medical Virology, Faculty for Medicine, Ruhr-Universität, 44780 Bochum, Germany, Phone: +49/234/32-23189
virologie@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Click for more
Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery
https://www.cavd.org/Pages/default.aspx

Editor: Dr. Julia Weiler

Media Contact

Dr. Josef König idw

More Information:

http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors