HIV: Supercharged Vaccine Could Protect Well With Just One Dose

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A supercharged HIV vaccine could offer strong protection with just one injection, a study in mice has indicated.
Developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Scripps Research Center, the vaccine includes two "adjuvants"—materials that help stimulate the immune system response.
In the experiments, the dual-adjuvant vaccine was found to produce a wider diversity of antibodies to protect against an HIV protein than with either single adjuvant or none at all.
This was because the vaccine accumulated in the mice's lymph nodes and remained there for a month—giving their immune systems more time to build up antibodies against HIV.
"What's potentially powerful about this approach is that you can achieve long-term exposures based on a combination of adjuvants that are already reasonably well-understood, so it doesn't require a different technology," said paper author and MIT chemical engineer professor J. Christopher Love in a statement.
And, the researchers said, the same approach could be used to create one-shot-only vaccines against other diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza.
A man receives a vaccination.
A man receives a vaccination.
Rani Nurlaela Desandi/iStock / Getty Images Plus
Most vaccines administered today are accompanied by adjuvants to help make them more effective.
One often used with protein-based vaccines—such as given against hepatitis A and B—is "alum," short for "aluminum hydroxide." Alum activates the body's innate immune response, helping it to form a stronger memory of the vaccine antigen in case of a real infection.
The new HIV vaccine combines alum with a nanoparticle known as SMNP, which itself combines the FDA-approved, naturally derived adjacent saponin with an inflammation-promoting molecule.
In their study, the researchers found that the SMNP–alum combination helped the HIV protein in their vaccine both penetrate the protective layer of cells surrounding the lymph nodes without being broken down, as well as stay intact in the nodes for up to 28 days.
The lymph nodes are where protective "B cells" are exposed to antigens—the substances that the body uses to recognize a given infection—and learn to produce the antibodies to fight back.
Vaccine antigens (pink) concentrate in B cell follicles (cyan)
Vaccine antigens (pink) concentrate in B cell follicles (cyan)
MIT
"As a result, the B cells that are cycling in the lymph nodes are constantly being exposed to the antigen over that [up to 28 day] time period—and they get the chance to refine their solution to the antigen," Love explained.
He added: "When you think about the immune system sampling all of the possible solutions, the more chances we give it to identify an effective solution, the better."
When the researchers analyzed the RNA of the B cells from the vaccinated mice, they found that those who had received both adjuvants had produced a more diverse array of B Cells and antibodies than the other rodents.
In fact, those who received the dual-adjuvant vaccine produced more than twice as many unique B cells than those mice who received a single-adjuvant vaccine.
This, the team explained, increases the odds that the mice's immune systems will be able to produce antibodies against a variety of strains of HIV in the case of a future injection.
And the benefits of the dual-adjuvant tactic is not just limited to fighting HIV.
"This approach is compatible with many protein-based vaccines, so it offers the opportunity to engineer new formulations for these types of vaccines across a wide range of different diseases, such as influenza, SARS-CoV-2, or other pandemic outbreaks," said Love.
Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about HIV? Let us know via health@newsweek.com.
Reference
Rodrigues, K. A., Zhang, Y. J., Lam, J., Aung, A., Morgan, D. M., Romanov, A., Maiorino, L., Yousefpour, P., Gibson, G., Ozorowski, G., Gregory, J. R., Amlashi, P., Van, R., Buckley, M., Ward, A. B., Schief, W. R., Love, J. C., & Irvine, D. J. (2025). Vaccines combining slow release and follicle targeting of antigens increase germinal center B cell diversity and clonal expansion. Science Translational Medicine, 17(803). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adw7499

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Business Insider

5 hours ago

• Business Insider

Incyte announces FDA extends review period for Opzelura sNDA

The company states: 'Incyte (INCY) announced that the FDA has extended the review period for the supplemental New Drug Application, sNDA, for ruxolitinib cream, Opzelura, a topical Janus kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of children 2-11 years old with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis. The PDUFA action date has been extended by three months to September 19, 2025. The FDA extended the PDUFA action date to allow time to review additional chemistry, manufacturing and controls data on the 0.75% strength submitted by Incyte in response to a recent FDA information request.' Steven Stein, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Incyte stated: 'We are confident in the potential of ruxolitinib cream to become an important non-steroidal, topical treatment option for pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis and we will continue to work closely with the FDA to ensure the Agency has all of the information needed to complete its review.' Confident Investing Starts Here:

Yahoo

7 hours ago

• Yahoo

Researchers Scanned the Brains of ChatGPT Users and Found Something Deeply Alarming

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found some startling results in the brain scans of ChatGPT users, adding to the growing body of evidence suggesting that AI is having a serious — and barely-understood — impact on its users' cognition even as it explodes in popularity worldwide. In a new paper currently awaiting peer review, researchers from the school's storied Media Lab documented the vast differences between the brain activity of people who using ChatGPT to write versus those who did not. The research team recruited 54 adults between the ages of 18 and 39 and divided them into three groups: one that used ChatGPT to help them write essays, one that used Google search as their main writing aid, and one that didn't use AI tech. The study took place over four months, with each group tasked with writing one essay per month for the first three, while a smaller subset of the cohort either switched from not using ChatGPT to using it — or vice versa — in the fourth month. As they completed the essay tasks, the participants were hooked up to electroencephalogram (EEG) machines that recorded their brain activity. Here's where things get wild: the ChatGPT group not only "consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels," but also got lazier with each essay they wrote; the EEGs found "weaker neural connectivity and under-engagement of alpha and beta networks." The Google-assisted group, meanwhile, had "moderate" neural engagement, while the "brain-only" group exhibited the strongest cognitive metrics throughout. These findings about brain activity, while novel, aren't entirely surprising after prior studies and anecdotes about the many ways that AI chatbot use seems to be affecting people's brains and minds. Previous MIT research, for instance, found that ChatGPT "power users" were becoming dependent on the chatbot and experiencing "indicators of addiction" and "withdrawal symptoms" when they were cut off. And earlier this year Carnegie Mellon and Microsoft — which has invested billions to bankroll OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT — found in a joint study that heavy chatbot use appears to almost atrophy critical thinking skills. A few months later, The Guardian found in an analysis of studies like that one that researchers are growing increasingly concerned that tech like ChatGPT is making us stupider, and a Wall Street Journal reporter even owned up to his cognitive skill loss from over-using chatbots. Beyond the neurological impacts, there are also lots of reasons to be concerned about how ChatGPT and other chatbots like it affects our mental health. As Futurism found in a recent investigation, many users are becoming obsessed with ChatGPT and developing paranoid delusions into which the chatbot is pushing them deeper. Some have even stopped taking their psychiatric medication because the chatbot told them to. "We know people use ChatGPT in a wide range of contexts, including deeply personal moments, and we take that responsibility seriously," OpenAI told us in response to that reporting. "We've built in safeguards to reduce the chance it reinforces harmful ideas, and continue working to better recognize and respond to sensitive situations." Add it all up, and the evidence is growing that AI is having profound and alarming effects on many users — but so far, we're seeing no evidence that corporations are slowing down in their attempts to injecting the tech into every part of of society. More on ChatGPT brain: Nation Cringes as Man Goes on TV to Declare That He's in Love With ChatGPT

Bloomberg

7 hours ago

• Bloomberg

Universities Win Order Voiding Agency's 15% Research Cost Cap

Brown and Cornell universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and several other US schools won a federal court order striking down a National Science Foundation cap on indirect cost rates for government-funded research. Judge Indira Talwani struck down the cap on Friday, finding it 'arbitrary, capricious and contrary to the law,' granting summary judgment to the suing schools plus the Association of American Universities, and denying that relief to the government.