Anti-Idiotypic Antibodies as Potential Viral Vaccines

Abstract

Although conventional vaccines have been demonstrated to be highly effective in stimulating protective immunity against a wide range of microorganisms, there are still instances in which suitable vaccines are lacking. For example, the inability to culture large quantities of numerous protozoal pathogens in vitro has prevented the development of conventional vaccines for these organisms. Other obstacles to the development of conventional vaccines include the poor humoral response of infants under the age of 2 years to certain polysaccharide antigens present on encapsulated bacteria (i.e., Neisseria meningitidis, Vibrio cholera, and Hemophilus influenzae) (1, 2). Also, the recent spread of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and its possible origin and evolution from viruses isolated from nonhuman primate species has pointed up the necessity of developing a vaccine that is incapable of reverting to a virulent form. These obstacles have led to the development of a new generation of vaccines. Recombinant proteins, synthetic peptides, and anti-idiotypic antibodies represent relatively new technologies that are currently being examined for their potential use in stimulating immunity against various microorganisms (reviewed in 3 and 4). This report will review studies from this laboratory that examine the potential use of anti-Idiotype to generate immunity to HIV-1 and hepatitis B virus (HBV).KeywordsInternal ImageConventional VaccineAntiidiotypic AntibodySimian Immunodeficiency Virus Gp120Silent CloneThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.