Speaker: Kshitij Wagh


Los Alamos National Laboratory


Title: Hitting the sweet spot - exploiting HIV glycan shield for effective AIDS vaccines

 
Abstract: Several viruses use "glycoproteins", proteins studded with glycans (sugars), for interacting with host receptors for cell entry. Since such glycoproteins are important targets of host antibodies that block infection, glycans are thought to play a key role in vaccine design. HIV is a master of using glycans for its advantage. HIV typically has ~100 glycans per glycoprotein, one of the highest of any proteins, and ~70% of its glycoprotein surface area thought to be covered by the dynamics of glycans. It uses this extensive "glycan shield" to protect the protein surface from most host antibodies, and the most effective antibodies against HIV, the ones we would like to elicit by vaccination, all have to negotiate this glycan shield. Recent work by us and others have revolutionized our understanding of HIV glycan biology and glycan-antibody interactions. In this talk, I will review the key ideas that emerge from such studies and discuss the limitations and opportunities that our increased understanding of HIV glycan shield provides for design of effective AIDS vaccines. Finally, I will also briefly discuss the SARS-CoV-2 glycan shield.