NIH Scientists Create Two-Headed Protein to Deplete HIV Reservoir

Article

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have created a protein that awakens resting immune cells infected with HIV and facilitates their destruction in laboratory studies. The protein potentially could contribute to a cure for HIV infection by helping deplete the reservoir of long-lived, latently HIV-infected cells that can start making the virus when a person stops taking anti-HIV drugs. Further studies in animals and people are needed to determine the viability of this approach.

The researchers found that the protein, called VRC07-αCD3, triggered the activation and killing of latently HIV-infected helper T cells when the cells were taken from patients on antiretroviral therapy and then incubated in the lab with the patients' own killer T cells. In addition, the scientists found a monkey-adapted version of the protein to be safe and well-tolerated when given to monkeys infected with a simian form of HIV and receiving antiretroviral therapy. The researchers are now studying the effectiveness of monkey-adapted VRC07-αCD3 in the animals.

The engineered protein has two ends: one activates T cells by binding to a surface molecule called the CD3 receptor, and the other--based on an antibody called VRC07--powerfully binds to more than 90 percent of HIV strains. VRC07-αCD3 facilitates the killing of latently HIV-infected cells in three steps. First, the CD3-binding end attaches to a resting, HIV-infected helper T cell, activating the cell so it starts making HIV and displaying pieces of virus on its surface. Next, the HIV-binding end of the protein latches onto those pieces of virus while the CD3-binding end attaches to a killer T cell, activating it and bringing it close to the helper T cell. Finally, the activated killer T cell destroys the HIV-infected helper T cell.

A team of scientists at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of NIH, created VRC07-αCD3 under the leadership of VRC Director John R. Mascola, MD; former VRC director Gary J. Nabel, MD, PhD; and Richard A. Koup, MD, VRC deputy director and chief of its immunology laboratory.

Reference: Pegu A, et al. Activation and lysis of human CD4 cells latently infected with HIV-1. Nature Communications DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9447 (2015).

Source: NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
 

Newsletter

Stay prepared and protected with Infection Control Today's newsletter, delivering essential updates, best practices, and expert insights for infection preventionists.

Recent Videos
"Top 5" in a blue ribbon  (Adobe Stock 235182652 by Evgeny)
Bug of the Month
David J. Weber, MD, MPH, president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.