ANTI-IDIOTYPIC VACCINES FOR AIDS

THE GEOMETRIC INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS INFECTED BY HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS TYPE 1 (HIV-1) HAS CREATED SERIOUS SOCIAL, ECONOMICAL AND LIFE-THREATENING ISSUES TO THE HUMAN RACE. IT IS OF PRESSING CONCERNS TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE MEASURES FOR CONTROLLING THE SPREAD OF THIS DISEASE, FAVORABLY BY INDUCING ACTIVE IMMUNITY TO THE INDIVIDUALS AT RISK TO THE INFECTION. BASED ON THE PHENOMENA OF IDIOTYPE (ID) NETWORKS IN THE ANTIBODY-MEDIATEDIMMUNE RESPONSE, WE NOW PROPOSE THE USE OF HIV-1 GROUP-SPECIFIC NEUTRALIZATION MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO GENERATE MONOCLONAL ANTI-IDIOTYPIC ANTIBODIES (ANTI-ID) WHICH MIMIC THE NEUTRALIZATION EPITOPES OF THE VIRUS. THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP SAFE AND EFFECTIVE ANTI-ID VACCINES TO PROTECT THE POPULATION FROM THE INFECTION, AND THUS TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF CONTROLLING THIS EPIDEMIC. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THIS PHASE I PROJECT ARE: (1) TO GENERATE HYBRIDOMAS WHICH SECRETE MONOCLONAL ANTI-ID'S BY IMMUNIZING MICE WITH THE NEUTRALIZATION MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES, (2) TO IDENTIFY THE ANTI-ID'S WHICH MIMIC THE CONFORMATION OF THE EPITOPES RECOGNIZED BY THE NEUTRALIZATION ANTIBODIES.