INTRACELLULAR EXPRESSION OF ANTIBODY FRAGMENTS DIRECTED AGAINST HIV REVERSE-TRANSCRIPTASE PREVENTS HIV-INFECTION IN-VITRO

We have tested a novel strategy of intracellular immunization to block human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The expression of a spe cific antibody within a cell was achieved by transduction of genes tha t encode for immunoglobulin chains with specificity to viral reverse t ranscriptase. We demonstrated that inhibition of this enzyme makes cel ls resistant to HIV infection by blocking an early stage of viral repl ication. If high efficiency transduction with a stable vector into lym phohaematopoietic stem cells or mature lymphocytes can be achieved, ge ne transfer-mediated intracellular immunization might be a feasible tr eatment strategy in AIDS.