Scientists have found that natural killer cells regulate anti-HIV antibody production

In developing a vaccine that stimulates an immune response to prevent HIV infection, researchers have been focusing on finding or producing a specific antibody that can mediat the virus. These broadly neutral antibodies (bnAbs) are eventually produced in about 50 percent of HIV-infected patients, but they are produced too late to effectively fight HIV because they have mutated repeatedly and been inserted into the patient's genome.
If we find a way for people to produce bnAbs before they become infected with HIV, they can suppress the HIV virus they encounter, and recently researchers from the Duke Institute for Human Vaccines have succeeded in finding an important protein that is highly active in people who produce bnAbs. The protein, called RAB11FIP5, involves changes in the distribution and function of natural killer cells, the first immune cells to respond to a viral infection. Natural killer cells also play an important role in autoimmune diseases.
"it was not known that this immune cell can regulate bnAbs." "Professor Barton Haynes of the Duke Institute for Human Vaccines, senior author of the study, said. We have discovered a new path of natural killer cells carrying cargo, which seems to play an important role in regulating bnAbs production. Haynes
colleagues designed experimental analyses of molecular differences between HIV-infected and non-infected people who can produce bnAbs. They analysed 239 infected people and found that they were almost all extreme - half had very high bnAbs and the other half had very low levels. The researchers used RNA sequencing to determine molecular differences associated with antibody production, and found significant differences in the expression of the RAB11FIP5 gene.
" data show that natural killer cells regulate the production of bnAbs, and Rab11 is a regulatory factor for HIV antibody response. Todd Bradley, author of the article, said. This is a new signaling path, and we hope to be able to regulate this path through the course of vaccination to produce a better HIV antibody response. "
reference: Todd Bradley et al. RAB11FIP5 Expression and Altered Natural Killer Cell Function Are Associated with Induction of HIV Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Responses.Cell.DOI: (Bio Valley)