| Abstract |
Dr. Baba is the most recent recipient
of a CFAR Developmental Award. His research will focus on
novel ways to develop an effective vaccine against HIV-1.
In his research, Dr. Baba has experimented with simian/human
chimeric immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs) which express HIV-1
envelope glycoproteins. The contructed virus SHIV-vpu+ has
demontrated that the triple combination of human anti-HIV-1
monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) F105, 2G12, and 2F5 neutralize
virus infection of tissue culture cells in a synergistic fashion.
The CFAR funded aspect of Dr. Baba's research will use a novel
strategy to develop a candidate AIDS vaccine. He will use
mAbs F105 and 2G12 to select ad indentify random peptides
from phage-displayed peptide libraries that bind to and therefore
mimic the antigen-binding site of eacg mAb. These phage-displayed,
immunoselected, peptide mimotopes will be used to immunize
mice. Resultant antisera will be analyzedfor neutralizing
activity against SHIV-vpu+ and HIV-1 strains in tissue culture.
Flow cytometry will be used to detect virus-infected cells.
DNA encoding and immuogenic peptides, that mimic the F015
and 2G12-defined antigenic determinants, will be sequenced
and corresponding peptides will be deciphered.
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