"Researchers Develop Novel Vaccine That Induces Antibodies That Contribute to Protection"
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a novel vaccine consisting of DNA and recombinant proteins composed of a portion of an HIV protein and another unrelated protein. This vaccine was tested in monkeys and was shown to induce antibodies similar to those associated with protection from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. “Our lab, together with researchers from several institutions in the United States, has been working for more than a decade on a novel approach to developing a vaccine against HIV/AIDS,” said lead author Susan Zolla-Pazner, PhD, professor of medicine, infectious diseases, and microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She added, "The vaccine we have developed is safe, in that it contains nothing that is infectious to the individual vaccinated. In the study now being published, we show that this novel vaccine induces the desired antibodies in monkeys, which suggests strongly that similar protective antibodies can be induced in humans and may play an important role in preventing HIV infection."
— Susan B. Zolla-Pazner, PhD, Professor, Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Additional coverage: News Medical