Evaluating the neutralizing antibody response to HIV-1 membrane proximal external regional; Implications for vaccine design

Includes bibliographical references.Inducing broadly neutralizing antibodies targeting the HIV-1 envelope is thought to be crucial for developing an effective vaccine. The Membrane Proximal External Region (MPER) within the HIV- 1 gp41 envelope is a promising vaccine target. The MPER is highly conserved, functionally constrained, facilitates virus fusion and is targeted by broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. The objectives of this research were 1) To evaluate the neutralization breadth of antibodies induced by epitopes within the MPER compared to the PG9/16-site in chronically HIV-1-infected individuals, 2) to identify neutralization resistant HIV-1 isolates (using plasma samples infected with the same subtype) and to characterize their sensitivity to anti-MPER antibodies and 3) to determine the accessibility of the MPER to HIV-1 induced polyclonal anti-MPER antibodies in a highly neutralization resistant virus (253-11; CRF02_AG subtype)