Experiment with Fusion-Incompetent (FI) Immunogens

Stop and think:

What is meant by Fusion-incompetent (FI) immunogens ?
answer Cocultures that do not undergo cell-cell fusion.

Need review of the fusion-competent (FC) vaccine immunogen for comparison?
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What does the fusion-competent (FC) vaccine immunogen contain?
answer the transient envelope-CD4-coreceptor structures that arise during HIV binding and fusion

The Fusion-incompetent (FI) immunogens:

a) COS-env cells cocultured with U87 cells
What component of the FI immunogen is missing (when comparing to the FC immunogen contents)? No CD4 or CCR5 coreceptor

b) COS-env cells cocultured with U87-CD4 cells
What component of the FI immunogen is still missing? they don't have the CCR5 coreceptor

c) COS-env cells to which soluble CD4 (sCD4) was complexed
What component of the FI immunogen is missing here? these COS-env cells have not been cocultured with U87 cells

d) COS-env cells with U87-CD4-CCR5 cells that were separately fixed with formaldehyde before mixing during the formation of the vaccine
Why would including this immunogen be important? because the role of fusion-dependent determinants in the induction of PI virus neutralization is being explored in this research article.

Click here for the results of these Fusion-incompetent (FI) immunogens