image: An immunogen named eOD-GT8 was designed to bind and activate the predicted human germline precursor B cells of the VRC01 class of HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). As a test, eOD-GT8 was used as a probe to isolate human naive B cells from HIV-uninfected individuals. This process pulled out VRC01-class human precursor B cells, confirming the design and suggesting that eOD-GT8 immunogens should be further tested in a human vaccine setting to determine if eOD-GT8 can activate the targeted VRC01-class B cells as a first step toward the ultimate elicitation of VRC01-class bnAbs that could protect people against HIV. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the March 25, 2016 issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by J.G. Jardine at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, and colleagues was titled, "HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody precursor B cells revealed by germline-targeting immunogen." view more
Credit: J.G. Jardine <i>et al</i>. / <i>Science</i> (2016)