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HIV-1: nature's master of disguise

Nature Medicine volume 9, pages 393–394 (2003)Cite this article

HIV-1 readily mutates to escape the immune response, evolving in ways that allow it to persist in the host. New findings reveal that HIV-1 protects itself from antibodies by putting up a shield of constantly shifting sugar moieties. This shield may be contributing to the poor performance of candidate HIV-1 vaccines.

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Figure 1: A comparison of the direct epitope variation and the glycan shield models of HIV-1 immune escape.

Kimberly Homer

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    John R. Mascola

  2. Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

    David C. Montefiori

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  1. John R. Mascola
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  2. David C. Montefiori
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Correspondence to John R. Mascola.

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Mascola, J., Montefiori, D. HIV-1: nature's master of disguise. Nat Med 9, 393–394 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0403-393

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