Boosting immune helper cells to make HIV vaccines work better
Strategies for targeting T follicular helper cells to improve HIV Env vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy
This project aims to direct vaccine parts to immune helper cells so people at risk for HIV can develop stronger protective antibodies.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California at Davis NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Davis, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11248858 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You will hear that researchers are designing vaccines to steer special immune helper cells (called Tfh and Tfc) to improve the way B cells make HIV-blocking antibodies. They will test new HIV envelope protein designs, different adjuvants to focus responses on key neutralizing sites, and delivery methods including virus-like particles, adenoviral vectors, and mRNA nanoparticles given systemically or to mucosal surfaces. Promising vaccine components will be combined with complementary T cell vaccine approaches from a linked project to see if the combined strategy produces better neutralizing antibody responses. Most work will be done in the lab and animal models to find the best combinations before any future human testing.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates for future human testing would be adults at risk for HIV infection or volunteers eligible for preventive vaccine trials.
Not a fit: People with active HIV infection seeking immediate treatment are unlikely to receive direct clinical benefit from this preventive vaccine development work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to preventive HIV vaccines that produce stronger neutralizing antibodies and better protection against infection.
How similar studies have performed: Some preclinical and early human vaccine efforts have shown partial success at steering antibody responses, but reliably inducing broad protective HIV neutralizing antibodies remains largely unachieved and this approach builds on promising lab advances.
Where this research is happening
Davis, United States
- University of California at Davis — Davis, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sparger, Ellen Elizabeth — University of California at Davis
- Study coordinator: Sparger, Ellen Elizabeth
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.