Isotype Diversification of IgG Antibodies to HIV Gag Proteins as a Therapeutic Vaccination Strategy for HIV Infection

Martyn A French; Laila N Abudulai; Sonia Fernandez

doi:10.3390/vaccines1030328

Isotype Diversification of IgG Antibodies to HIV Gag Proteins as a Therapeutic Vaccination Strategy for HIV Infection

Vaccines (Basel). 2013 Aug 9;1(3):328-42. doi: 10.3390/vaccines1030328.

Authors

Martyn A French^{1

2}, Laila N Abudulai³, Sonia Fernandez³

Affiliations

¹ School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia. martyn.french@uwa.edu.au.
² Department of Clinical Immunology, Royal Perth Hospital and PathWest Laboratory Medicine, Perth 6000, Australia. martyn.french@uwa.edu.au.
³ School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia.

Abstract

The development of vaccines to treat and prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has been hampered by an incomplete understanding of "protective" immune responses against HIV. Natural control of HIV-1 infection is associated with T-cell responses against HIV-1 Gag proteins, particularly CD8⁺ T-cell responses restricted by "protective" HLA-B alleles, but other immune responses also contribute to immune control. These immune responses appear to include IgG antibodies to HIV-1 Gag proteins, interferon-a-dependant natural killer (NK) cell responses and plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) responses. Here, it is proposed that isotype diversification of IgG antibodies against HIV-1 Gag proteins, to include IgG2, as well as IgG3 and IgG1 antibodies, will broaden the function of the antibody response and facilitate accessory cell responses against HIV-1 by NK cells and pDCs. We suggest that this should be investigated as a vaccination strategy for HIV-1 infection.

Keywords: HIV; HIV-1 Gag; IgG antibody diversification; IgG subclasses; vaccine.

Publication types

Review