My lab is exploring the human antibody responses towards the two pathogens responsible for the most devastating diseases around the world, HIV-1 and TB. Our focus in the HIV field is directed towards understanding the basis for the difficulty of developing an effective vaccine against this virus, and includes understanding the mechanisms for masking of potentially protective epitopes, and identifying novel epitopes in HIV-1 Env that may be more effective vaccine targets. In the TB area, we are isolating human monoclonal antibodies against various TB protein and glycolipid antigens, and exploring the utility of these antibodies for both immunodiagnostic and immunotherapeutic applications. These studies have recently allowed us to define the antigenic structure of the major M. tb surface glycolipid, lipoarabinomannan (LAM) and to use these antibodies to develop a potential point-of-care assay for TB infection based
on the detection of LAM in the urine of actively-infected patients.
- Title
- Professor
- Area of Study/Expertise
- HIV Vaccine TB Tuberculosis M.tb Immunodiagnostic
- pinterab@njms.rutgers.edu