Abstract
Despite extensive efforts, a preventive HIV vaccine has not yet been obtained and remains the main challenge in the field of AIDS research. Empirical approaches which have proved successful for many vaccines are not sufficient to tackle HIV-1 and new strategies to design effective preventive AIDS vaccines are critical. To this aim, further understanding of the mechanisms of action of neutralizing antibodies is required. In this review we summarize our current knowledge on the structure of the gp160 viral envelope and the dynamics of viral entry, the evolution of humoral response in HIV-infected patients and the mechanisms of viral escape. Finally, we describe the few neutralizing antibodies with activity against a broad spectrum of circulating HIV strains and their relevance in the design of new candidates to HIV-1 vaccines.
Keywords: HIV-1, neutralizing antibodies, vaccines, gp120, gp41, AIDS research, humoral response, gp160, envelope-based vaccines, prototype vaccine, viral replication, canarypox, dual-component vaccine, cytotoxic T-cell activity, lymphoproliferative responses, glycoprotein, endoplasmic reticulum, trimeric precursor molecule, proteolytic maturation in the Golgi apparatus, Heterodimeric complexes, non-covalent interactions, carboxy-terminal structures, glycosylation, CD4 binding site, chemokine receptors, immunoglobulins, circulating recombinant forms (CRF), elite neutralizers, oligoclonal response, systemic immunity, simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV), alphavirus replicon particles, MVA (modified vaccinia virus Ankara), reverse transcriptase, autologous viruses, glycan shield, epitopic mutations, monoclonal antibody (mAb), IgGb12, HJ16, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), hybridoma, mousehuman heteromyeloma cell line, oligosaccharides, heterohybridoma, immortalization method, Membrane-Proximal External Region, passive immunization, virologic rebound, asymptomatic individual, anti-MPER antibodies, mutations, steric factors, flow cytometry, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxic (ADCC), bone marrow plasma cells, monoclonal antibodies, hairpin tertiary structure