HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) can suppress viremia and protect against infection. However, their elicitation is made difficult by low frequencies of appropriate precursor B cell receptors and the complex maturation pathways required to generate bnAbs from these precursors. Antibody genes can be engineered into B cells for expression as both a functional receptor on cell surfaces and as secreted antibody. Here, we show that HIV bnAb-engineered primary mouse B cells can be adoptively transferred and vaccinated in immunocompetent wild-type animals resulting in the expansion of durable bnAb memory and long-lived plasma cells. Somatic hypermutation after immunization indicated that engineered cells have the capacity to respond to an evolving pathogen. These results encourage further exploration of engineered B cell vaccines as a strategy for durable elicitation of HIV bnAbs to protect against infection and as a contributor to a functional cure.

Download data

• Downloaded 539 times
• Download rankings, all-time:
  • Site-wide: 61,159
  • In immunology: 1,870
• Year to date:
  • Site-wide: 120,786
• Since beginning of last month:
  • Site-wide: 118,395

Altmetric data

Downloads over time

Distribution of downloads per paper, site-wide