Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine immunogens capable of inducing broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) remain obscure. HIV-1 evades immune responses through enormous diversity and hides its conserved vulnerable epitopes on the envelope glycoprotein (Env) by displaying an extensive immunodominant glycan shield. In elite HIV-1 viremic controllers, glycan-dependent bNAbs targeting conserved Env epitopes have been isolated and are utilized as vaccine design templates. However, immunological tolerance mechanisms limit the development of these antibodies in the general population. The well characterized bNAbs monoclonal variants frequently exhibit extensive levels of somatic hypermutation, a long third heavy chain complementary determining region, or a short third light chain complementarity determining region, and some exhibit poly-reactivity to autoantigens. This review elaborates on the obstacles to engaging and manipulating the Env glycoprotein as an effective immunogen and describes an alternative reverse vaccinology approach to develop a novel category of bNAb-epitope-derived non-cognate immunogens for HIV-1 vaccine design.
- MeSH
- Epitopes immunology MeSH
- env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus immunology MeSH
- HIV Infections immunology MeSH
- HIV Antibodies * immunology MeSH
- HIV-1 * immunology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Ligands MeSH
- Molecular Mimicry immunology MeSH
- Antibodies, Neutralizing * immunology MeSH
- Polysaccharides immunology MeSH
- AIDS Vaccines * immunology MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Review MeSH
