New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study
New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study
新型艾滋病疫苗在临床前研究中展现出前所未有的成功
Vaccine approach yields high numbers of HIV-neutralizing antibodies in non-human primates 该疫苗接种方法在非人灵长类动物中产生了大量艾滋病病毒中和抗体
Madeline McCurry-Schmidt | Science Writer | July 6, 2026 Madeline McCurry-Schmidt | 科学撰稿人 | 2026年7月6日
Highlights:
- Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and Scripps Research have developed an HIV vaccine that trains immune cells to see past HIV’s defenses.
- This HIV vaccine works by prompting the body’s immune system to make substantial numbers of rarely seen “broadly neutralizing” antibodies.
- In this new study, this vaccine resulted in the best HIV-fighting antibody response ever seen in primates.
- Human trials have now started.
要点：
- 拉霍亚免疫学研究所（LJI）和斯克里普斯研究所（Scripps Research）的科学家们开发出一种艾滋病疫苗，能够训练免疫细胞识破艾滋病病毒（HIV）的防御机制。
- 该疫苗通过促使人体免疫系统产生大量罕见的“广谱中和”抗体来发挥作用。
- 在这项新研究中，该疫苗在灵长类动物身上产生了迄今为止最强的抗艾滋病抗体反应。
- 人体试验现已启动。
LA JOLLA, CA—A new HIV vaccine developed by La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), Scripps Research scientists, and IAVI has the potential to protect humans from developing HIV infection and AIDS. This HIV vaccine is the first to generate a high number of “broadly neutralizing,” virus-fighting antibodies in primates.
加利福尼亚州拉霍亚——由拉霍亚免疫学研究所（LJI）、斯克里普斯研究所的科学家以及国际艾滋病疫苗倡议组织（IAVI）共同开发的一种新型艾滋病疫苗，有望保护人类免受艾滋病病毒感染及艾滋病的影响。这是首款能在灵长类动物体内产生大量“广谱中和”抗病毒抗体的艾滋病疫苗。
“This feels like a huge success,” says LJI Professor and Chief Scientific Officer Shane Crotty, Ph.D., who co-led the research with Scripps Research Professor William Schief, Ph.D. “We constructed a successful vaccine from the ground up, which required a deep understanding of the immune system.”
“这感觉是一次巨大的成功，”LJI教授兼首席科学官Shane Crotty博士说道，他与斯克里普斯研究所的William Schief教授共同领导了这项研究。“我们从零开始构建了一种成功的疫苗，这需要对免疫系统有深刻的理解。”
This groundbreaking research, published in Nature, is the result of 14 years of collaboration between La Jolla Institute for Immunology and Scripps Research, as part of the Scripps Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD). “This has been one of those Apollo moon mission-type projects, where there is an exceptional goal and the team has to accomplish a myriad of discoveries and inventions along the way,” says Crotty.
这项发表在《自然》杂志上的开创性研究，是拉霍亚免疫学研究所与斯克里普斯研究所14年合作的结晶，也是斯克里普斯艾滋病疫苗开发联盟（CHAVD）项目的一部分。“这就像是阿波罗登月计划那样的项目，有着非凡的目标，而团队必须在过程中完成无数的发现和发明，”Crotty说。
Outsmarting HIV
智胜艾滋病病毒
The new vaccine works by intervening in a process called B cell maturation. B cells make antibodies. Like many immune cells, B cells have an early “naive” stage before they are ready to make antibodies. B cells start to mature once they get the signal that a pathogen, such as a virus, is trying to attack. B cells see pieces of that pathogen’s molecular structure and start producing antibodies that can bind to that structure and halt infection.
这种新型疫苗通过干预所谓的“B细胞成熟”过程来发挥作用。B细胞负责制造抗体。像许多免疫细胞一样，B细胞在准备制造抗体之前处于早期的“初始”阶段。一旦B细胞接收到病原体（如病毒）试图入侵的信号，它们就开始成熟。B细胞识别出病原体分子结构的一部分，并开始产生能够与该结构结合并阻止感染的抗体。
It can take a little while for B cells to find the right “bullseye” on a pathogen. But B cells keep trying. As they mature, B cells tweak their antibody production, refining antibody structures to bind to a pathogen in just the right, vulnerable spots. Scientists describe B cell development as a training process or bootcamp. In most cases, the body is left with a well-honed B cell army.
B细胞可能需要一段时间才能找到病原体上的正确“靶心”。但B细胞会不断尝试。随着成熟，B细胞会调整其抗体产生方式，优化抗体结构，以便精准结合病原体的脆弱部位。科学家将B细胞的发育过程描述为一种训练过程或“新兵训练营”。在大多数情况下，人体最终会拥有一支训练有素的B细胞大军。
HIV is hard to beat because it doesn’t give B cells a chance to develop effective antibodies. The first problem is that HIV disguises itself from the immune system. The virus is wrapped in an ever-shifting cloak of sugar molecules, called glycans. This lets HIV sneak undetected past human cells, which are also covered in glycans.
艾滋病病毒之所以难以击败，是因为它不给B细胞产生有效抗体的机会。第一个问题是艾滋病病毒会伪装自己以躲避免疫系统。该病毒被一层不断变化的糖分子外衣（称为聚糖）包裹着。这使得艾滋病病毒能够悄无声息地潜入人体细胞，因为人体细胞表面也覆盖着聚糖。
The second big problem is that HIV mutates very quickly. “The worldwide diversity of HIV mutations is extraordinary. Even the diversity within one individual person living with HIV is dramatic,” says LJI Instructor Patrick Madden, Ph.D., who served as study co-first author with Jon Steichen, Ph.D., an institute investigator at Scripps Research.
第二个大问题是艾滋病病毒变异速度极快。“全球范围内艾滋病病毒的变异多样性非常惊人。即使是在一名艾滋病病毒感染者体内，其变异多样性也十分剧烈，”LJI讲师Patrick Madden博士说，他与斯克里普斯研究所的研究员Jon Steichen博士共同担任该研究的第一作者。
The third problem is that HIV changes its shape when it infects human cells. Even if B cells get a glimpse of its viral structure—snap!—the structure changes. Taken together, these problems rarely give B cells a chance to hone their antibody responses against HIV. Even if a B cell manages to make neutralizing antibodies, the virus can mutate or change its shape, rendering those antibodies useless.
第三个问题是艾滋病病毒在感染人体细胞时会改变形状。即使B细胞瞥见了它的病毒结构——啪！——结构就变了。综合来看，这些问题使得B细胞几乎没有机会磨练出针对艾滋病病毒的抗体反应。即使B细胞成功制造出了中和抗体，病毒也可能通过变异或改变形状，使这些抗体失效。
The LJI and Scripps Research teams spent years hunting for “broadly neutralizing” antibodies that can actually bind to HIV and recognize key viral structures, even if the rest of the virus mutates. These antibodies are very, very rare, but they can be found in blood samples from a small number of people living with HIV. An effective HIV vaccine would need to prompt the immune system to make these same broadly neutralizing antibodies.
LJI和斯克里普斯研究所的团队花费数年时间寻找“广谱中和”抗体，这些抗体即使在病毒其余部分发生变异的情况下，也能与艾滋病病毒结合并识别关键的病毒结构。这些抗体非常罕见，但可以在少数艾滋病病毒感染者的血液样本中找到。一种有效的艾滋病疫苗需要促使免疫系统产生同样的广谱中和抗体。
“How could we flip the whole immune response on its head so the rare responses become the common responses? That was a critical challenge we faced,” says Crotty.
“我们如何才能彻底颠覆整个免疫反应，使罕见的反应变成常见的反应？这是我们面临的关键挑战，”Crotty说。
Testing the new vaccine
测试新型疫苗
It was time to go back to B cell bootcamp. The scientists studied what made the HIV-fighting B cells special. Then they reversed the process to see exactly how those B cells matured. By looking back at the maturation process, the researchers could track how the B cells changed when they saw specific pieces of the HIV structure.
是时候回到B细胞“新兵训练营”了。科学家们研究了是什么让抗艾滋病病毒的B细胞变得特别。然后，他们逆向分析了这些B细胞究竟是如何成熟的。通过回顾成熟过程，研究人员能够追踪B细胞在接触到艾滋病病毒结构的特定部分时是如何发生变化的。
The team discovered that B cells matured to make broadly neutralizing antibodies after they got an early look at parts of HIV’s outer “envelope” protein. Because these viral sites sparked an immune response, scientists would call them “antigens.” An effective HIV vaccine would likely need to include models of these antigens. The antigens would work like mugshots of America’s most wanted. If B cells saw those antigens early and often, they would get really good at recognizing and even neutralizing HIV.
研究团队发现，B细胞在早期接触到艾滋病病毒外部“包膜”蛋白的部分结构后，会成熟并产生广谱中和抗体。由于这些病毒位点能激发免疫反应，科学家称之为“抗原”。一种有效的艾滋病疫苗很可能需要包含这些抗原的模型。这些抗原就像是美国通缉犯的照片。如果B细胞能尽早且频繁地看到这些抗原，它们就会变得非常擅长识别甚至中和艾滋病病毒。
“We were trying to mimic the progression of those neutralizing antibodies,” says Madden. In a feat of molecular engineering, the Schief Lab developed vaccine molecules that resembled the real HIV antigens. The scientists then worked with Emory National Primate Research Center, to test this potential HIV vaccine in a non-human primate species called rhesus macaques.
“我们试图模拟这些中和抗体的演变过程，”Madden说。在一项分子工程壮举中，Schief实验室开发出了类似于真实艾滋病病毒抗原的疫苗分子。随后，科学家们与埃默里国家灵长类动物研究中心合作，在一种名为恒河猴的非人灵长类动物身上测试了这种潜在的艾滋病疫苗。
The researchers first administered a “priming” vaccine meant to activate each animal’s naive B cells. The animals then received a series of “shepherding” booster shots to help their B cells develop along the right path. “This series of vaccinations will guide, or ‘walk’, a B cell from its naive state to its broadly neutralizing state,” says Madden. This new type of vaccine approach is called “germline targeting” because…
研究人员首先注射了一种旨在激活每只动物初始B细胞的“启动”疫苗。随后，这些动物接受了一系列“引导”加强针，以帮助它们的B细胞沿着正确的路径发育。“这一系列疫苗接种将引导或‘带领’B细胞从其初始状态走向广谱中和状态，”Madden说。这种新型疫苗接种方法被称为“种系靶向”，因为……