image: A human antibody discovered from an HIV-1 infected patient neutralizes more than 90 percent of current circulating HIV-1 viruses. This atomic level snapshot captures the antibody in the act of binding to the viral site for attachment to its primary human host cell receptor. The antibody named VRC01 is colored in green and blue for its heavy and light chains, respectively. The HIV-1 gp120 envelope glycoprotein is depicted in red. This image relates to an article that appeared in the July 8, 2010, issue of Science Express, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. T. Zhou of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues, is titled, "Structural Basis for Broad and Potent Neutralization of HIV-1 by Antibody VRC01." view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Peter Kwong, Jonathan Stuckey, Tongquing Zhou