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Updated: Nov 2, 2025
Humanized NOD/SCID/IL2rγnull (hu-NSG) Mouse Model for HIV Replication and Latency Studies
Published on: January 7, 2019
Broadly neutralizing antibody responses in the longitudinal primary HIV-1 infection Short Pulse Anti-Retroviral
Luke A Granger1,2, Isabella Huettner1, Franka Debeljak1
1Department of Infectious Diseases, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, Great Maze Pond, London, UK.
Objective:
Development of immunogens that elicit an anti-HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) response will be a key step in the development of an effective HIV-1 vaccine. Although HIV-1 bnAb epitopes have been identified and mechanisms of action studied, current HIV-1 envelope-based immunogens do not elicit HIV-1 bnAbs in humans or animal models. A better understanding of how HIV-1 bnAbs arise during infection and the clinical factors associated with bnAb development may be critical for HIV-1 immunogen design efforts.
Design And Methods:
Longitudinal plasma samples from the treatment-naive control arm of the Short Pulse Anti-Retroviral Therapy at Seroconversion (SPARTAC) primary HIV-1 infection cohort were used in an HIV-1 pseudotype neutralization assay to measure the neutralization breadth, potency and specificity of bnAb responses over time.
Results:
In the SPARTAC cohort, development of plasma neutralization breadth and potency correlates with duration of HIV infection and high viral loads, and typically takes 3-4 years to arise. bnAb activity was mostly directed to one or two bnAb epitopes per donor and more than 60% of donors with the highest plasma neutralization having bnAbs targeted towards glycan-dependent epitopes.
Conclusion:
This study highlights the SPARTAC cohort as an important resource for more in-depth analysis of bnAb developmental pathways.
