Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype B ancestral envelope protein is functional and elicits neutralizing antibodies in rabbits similar to those elicited by a circulating subtype B envelope.

ABSTRACT: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is a difficult target for vaccine development, in part because of its ever-expanding genetic diversity and attendant capacity to escape immunologic recognition. Vaccine efficacy might be improved by maximizing immunogen antigenic similarity to viruses likely to be encountered by vaccinees. To this end, we designed a prototype HIV-1 envelope vaccine using a deduced ancestral state for the env gene. The ancestral state reconstruction method was shown to be >95% accurate by computer simulation and 99.8% accurate when estimating the known inoculum used in an experimental infection study in rhesus macaques. Furthermore, the deduced ancestor gene differed from the set of sequences used to derive the ancestor by an average of 12.3%, while these latter s

SUBMITTER: Doria-Rose NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1193599 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature