The Black Vault - 'Vital breakthrough' in search for Aids vaccine

Scientists have made a vital breakthrough in the search for an Aids vaccine.

Experts from The Scripps Research Institute, based in California, have solved the structure of an antibody which neutralises the HIV virus.

The findings, will boost the search to find a vaccine for HIV/Aids, which killed more than four million people in 2001.

TSRI Professor Ian Wilson, one of two professors who led the research said: "Nothing like this has ever been seen before."

HIV causes Aids by binding to, entering and ultimately, killing T helper cells - immune cells that are necessary to fight off infections.

An important part of any potential vaccine will be a component that elicits or induces effective neutralising antibodies against HIV in the blood of the vaccinated person.

Also called immunoglobins, antibodies are the basis for many existing vaccines, including those against measles, polio, hepatitis B, and hepatitis A. 'Good' antibodies bind to and neutralise the virus, making it unable to invade cells.

Because neutralising antibodies attack the virus before it enters cells, they could conceivably be used to prevent HIV infection if they were present prior to virus exposure.

Scientists have however warned that the body makes lots of antibodies against HIV, but they are almost always unable to neutralise the virus.

Researchers said the next step was to use the structure of the antibody as a template to design an "antigen" that would stimulate the human immune system to make broadly neutralising antibodies against HIV.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_794306.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery