Lead researcher Raul M. Torres and his team sought to better understand how the body’s own immune system might be getting in the way of neutralizing the HIV-1 virus. Scientists believe that’s because these autoimmune patients produce self-reactive antibodies that recognize and neutralize HIV-1. Torres wanted to break through that tolerance and stimulate the production of antibodies that could neutralize HIV-1. And if the mice were also injected with the HIV-1 protein Env, they produced potent broadly neutralizing antibodies capable of neutralizing a range of HIV-1 strains. “But breaching peripheral immunological tolerance permits the production of cross-reactive antibodies able to neutralize HIV-1,” Torres said.

Source: Hindustan Times July 12, 2017 10:07 UTC