AUTHOR=Coppola Jessica , Parren Mara , Bastidas Raiza , Saye Karen , Malvin Jacqueline , Jardine Joseph G. , Gilbride Roxanne M. , Ojha Sohita , Feltham Shana , Morrow David , Barber-Axthelm Aaron , Bochart Rachele , Fast Randy , Oswald Kelli , Shoemaker Rebecca , Lifson Jeffrey D. , Picker Louis J. , Burton Dennis R. , Hansen Scott G. 

TITLE=Combining a rhesus cytomegalovirus/SIV vaccine with a neutralizing antibody to protect against SIV challenges in rhesus macaques

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1592647

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2025.1592647

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=A vaccine is considered essential for controlling the HIV pandemic and ultimately eradicating AIDS. Neutralizing antibodies and MHC-E-restricted CD8+ T cells have shown the ability to protect against the simian counterpart of HIV, SIV, in rhesus macaques. In this study, we provide preliminary evidence that combining these orthogonal antiviral mechanisms can offer increased protection against SIV. Specifically, the replication arrest observed following vaccination with a rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV/SIV)-based vaccine was enhanced by the presence of a passively administered neutralizing antibody at incompletely protective levels. This report encourages studies involving larger cohorts of macaques and alternative methods for administering neutralizing antibodies.