Monoclonal Antibody Protects Macrophages from HIV

A study has shown that exposure of human macrophages to a monoclonal antibody specific for the CD63 membrane protein prevented infection by HIV. The study was published in the March 16, 2003, issue of the Journal of Virology.

Investigators at the University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston, USA) evaluated a large number of antibodies towards membrane proteins for the ability to block entry of HIV. They found that an antibody to CD63, a membrane-associated protein whose function is not yet fully understood, blocked entry and infection of macrophages by a diverse group of HIV strains. The antibody was most effective in blocking virus strains that used the chemokine receptor CCR5, termed R5 strains, which includes almost all the viruses commonly seen in patients with HIV infection. The effect of the CD63 antibody was restricted to macrophages, as it did not prevent infection of T-cell lymphocytes, despite the presence of CD63 on the surface of those cells.

"We need to understand what CD63 does, because understanding its mechanism may lead to targets that would be suitable for therapies to block HIV entry,” explained senior author Professor William A. O'Brien, from the departments of microbiology and immunology of the University of Texas Medical Branch.




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