Cambridge-based Kymab has presented research findings on a new approach to developing a human vaccine against HIV.
The research is being carried out as part of a partnership between The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) of San Diego, California, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
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This partnership seeks to improve discovery and testing of promising vaccine strategies against HIV / AIDS, which has already claimed the lives of about 35 million people, with 36 million currently infected.
The findings, published in a paper entitled 'Priming HIV-1 broadly neutralising antibody precursors in human Ig loci transgenic mice', revealed that Kymab's human antibody discovery platform, Kymouse, successfully demonstrated the steps to developing a HIV vaccine.
Kymouse is a mouse that has been modified to mimic human antibody responses.
During the research, Kymouse strains were injected with a nanoparticle formed of 60 copies of a small protein that mimics HIV.
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By GlobalDataThe nanoparticle was designed to bind and stimulate the specific precursor cells for one class of broadly neutralising antibody.
On observation, the research team found that the mice had mounted an effective antibody response against the HIV immunogen.
The team validated their antibody response by sequencing genes from more than 10,000 cell samples.
Kymab chief technical officer professor Allan Bradley said: "Our phenomenal results with the teams at TSRI and IAVI came from work at the boundaries of protein engineering, immunology and vaccine technology.
"Using Kymouse, we show how an advanced vaccine candidate can search out the one cell among tens of million antibody-producing cells and make it proliferate.
"Kymouse can deliver antibody responses that we need to build effective HIV vaccines."
The research was supported by funding from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and the US National Institutes of Health.
