Vaccine Target
Since CD4 receptor binding is the most obvious step in HIV infection, gp120 was among the first targets of HIV vaccine research. Efforts to develop HIV vaccines targeting gp120, however, have been hampered by the chemical and structural properties of gp120, which make it difficult for antibodies to bind to it. gp120 can also easily be shed from the surface of the virus and captured by T cells due to its loose binding with gp41. A conserved region in the gp120 glycoprotein that is involved in the metastable attachment of gp120 to CD4 has been identified and targeting of invariant region has been achieved with a broadly neutralising antibody, b12.
NIH research published in Science reports the discovery of antibodies that bind 91% of HIV-1 strains at the CD4bs region of gp120 potentially offering a therapeutic and vaccine strategy.
Read more about this topic: Envelope Glycoprotein GP120
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