Novel antibodies capable of blocking HIV infection isolated

Scientists have isolated 17 novel antibodies capable of neutralizing a broad spectrum of variants of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.Researchers at and associated with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), The Scripps Research Institute, the biotechnology company Theraclone Sciences and Monogram Biosciences Inc., a LabCorp company were behind the study.The new antibodies, large protein molecules that bind to pathogens and flag them for destruction, were isolated from blood serum samples collected in a continuing global search for broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) launched by IAVI.They should provide researchers with a new set of targets for the design of vaccine candidates that can elicit similar antibodies to protect people from contracting HIV.Some of the bNAbs blocked HIV infection of cells as much as 10 to 100 times as potently as previously discovered bNAbs.