Researchers uncover clues about how HIV virus mutates
To get at the question of how broadly neutralizing antibodies affect HIV mutation, evolutionary biologist Dr. Jesse Bloom teamed up with HIV researcher Dr. Julie Overbaugh and doctoral student Adam Dingens. The mutations they uncovered are a mix of those that had been discovered in previous studies as well as some newly discovered sites. Using a library of envelope, or Env, mutants made in a strain of HIV directly isolated from an infected child, the team infected T cells in the lab in the presence of PGT151. As the protein that covers HIV's surface, Env is the primary part of the virus that the immune system can see and act on. HIV is a particularly notorious foe for both the natural immune system and for immune reactions spurred by vaccines in part because Env mutates so rapidly, slipping away from immune recognition before the body can effectively rid itself of the infection. The researchers then sequenced the mutant viral strains that were able to infect cells in a petri ...