# Identification and Analysis of HIV-specific Naive B cells in HIV-unexposed Individuals

> **NIH NIH R01** · FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER · 2020 · $30,930

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
There are over 34 million people currently infected with HIV-1 worldwide and at least 2 million new infections
each year. Given this high prevalence and the associated economic and social toll, a prophylactic vaccine
protective against HIV-1 is of paramount global health importance. In general, successful anti-viral vaccines
induce the production of antibodies able to bind the pathogen and block infection of cells. While antibodies able
to bind and broadly neutralize diverse strains of HIV-1 have been characterized in natural infection, tested
candidate HIV-1 vaccines only induce antibodies protective against a narrow subset of strains closely related
to the virus the vaccine was derived from. While several hypotheses have been proposed, it is not understood
why vaccines fail to induce antibodies able to bind the conserved regions of the virus targeted by protective
antibodies that develop in some chronically infected individuals. To understand the mechanism(s) preventing
the production of these protective “broadly neutralizing” antibodies after vaccination, we will study the
activation and differentiation of the cells responsible for antibody production, B cells. To date, all studies of
HIV-specific B cells have occurred following vaccination or infection. This is because the “naive” HIV-specific B
cells present before vaccination or infection are extremely rare and difficult to identify. To overcome these
limitations, we have developed a novel enrichment and analysis strategy to identify naive HIV-specific B cells.
This approach allows for the direct ex vivo analysis of human HIV-specific naive B cells, allowing for an
unprecedented pre-clinical analysis of the cells targeted by candidate vaccines. This innovate approach will
reveal factors limiting the activation of HIV-specific naive B cells, which will inform the design of new vaccines
that overcome these deficiencies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10593459
- **Project number:** 6R01AI122912-06
- **Recipient organization:** FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Justin J Taylor
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $30,930
- **Award type:** 6
- **Project period:** 2016-06-20 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10593459

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10593459, Identification and Analysis of HIV-specific Naive B cells in HIV-unexposed Individuals (6R01AI122912-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10593459. Licensed CC0.

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