Poster presentation at the 18th Institute of Human Virology Annual Conference

Preliminary data from a Bionor research project supported by the Research Council of Norway GLOBVAC program will be presented as a poster today at the 18th Annual International Meeting of the Institute of Human Virology which takes places from 19-22 September in Baltimore, Maryland USA (http://medschool.umaryland.edu/ihvmeeting/default.html). The poster will be presented by Dr. Pete Smith, a Bionor collaborator in the Laboratory of Prof. Dalgleish at St. Georges University of London. The work also involves collaboration Dr. Phillip Hay’s group at St. Georges Hospital NHS Trust. The present study looks at antibody responses to Vacc-C5, a synthetic peptide designed to mimic a particular region of HIV surface envelope proteins. Previous studies have suggested that the presence of antibodies directed against elements contained within Vacc-C5 in HIV infected individuals, correlate with slower disease progression. Immune activation is known to contribute to HIV disease progression and is therefore a potential target for future HIV immunotherapy. The poster provides preliminary data on antibody levels to Vacc-C5 in relation to levels of immune activation markers in people living with HIV. The findings to date support the hypothesis that anti-Vacc-C5 antibodies may play a role in reducing unwanted immune activation in HIV infection.