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Full-Text Articles in Virology
Designing A Novel Hiv-1 Candidate Vaccine, Rahul Pawa
Designing A Novel Hiv-1 Candidate Vaccine, Rahul Pawa
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Currently no vaccine has been developed that can prevent the spread of HIV-1. During sexual transmission, a single viral variant called the Transmitted/Founder (T/F) purportedly with unique physical properties, establishes infection in 70-80% of individuals. Unlike previous studies that have tried to identify T/F viruses based on their structure glycan composition and amino acid sequence, we have analyzed the RNA sequences of HIV-1 to help identify T/F variants. Using a combination of both in silico data analysis and in vitro assays, we have identified that T/F viruses have higher numbers of immunostimulatory motifs than HIV virions that fail to infect. …
Endogenous, Controlled Expression Of Anti-Hiv-1 Broadly Neutralizing Antibody, Darshit Patel
Endogenous, Controlled Expression Of Anti-Hiv-1 Broadly Neutralizing Antibody, Darshit Patel
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Recently, researchers have identified a number of anti-HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs), such as VRC01 and N6, capable of targeting a broad range of HIV-1 strains. Passive immunization using these patient-derived bNAbs could provide temporary protection but are limited by the short antibody half-life. While current gene transfer technology allows sustained bNAb expression, it lacks the ability to control bNAb production in vivo resulting in possible autoimmunity. To address this issue of achieving controlled bNAb expression in vivo, we hypothesize that bNAb expression from transduced Flu-specific B cells can be activated and modulated by subsequent Flu immunizations in the …