OxTalks will soon move to the new Halo platform and will become 'Oxford Events.' There will be a need for an OxTalks freeze. This was previously planned for Friday 14th November – a new date will be shared as soon as it is available (full details will be available on the Staff Gateway).
In the meantime, the OxTalks site will remain active and events will continue to be published.
If staff have any questions about the Oxford Events launch, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) are difficult to induce in vaccines but are generated in some HIV-infected individuals. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of host control of bnAb induction is critical for vaccine design. Using Systems Immunology approaches, we have identified a predictive blood signature associated with HIV bnAbs, indicative of strong CD4 T follicular helper responses and reduced tolerance constraints. To this end, we will discuss methods and techniques applied to overcome the challenges involved in patient cohorts with limited cell numbers, lack of tissue samples, and data scarcity. These include high-dimensional spectral flow cytometry (38+colours), curtailed in vitro functional assays, and non-human primate models to provide mechanistic insight. Together, these findings suggest mechanistic targets for regulating HIV-1 bnAb responses that could be modulated in vaccine platforms.
