Development and implementation of an international proficiency testing program for a neutralizing antibody assay for HIV-1 in TZM-bl cells.

Abstract

Recent advances in assay technology have led to major improvements in how HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies are measured. A luciferase reporter gene assay performed in TZM-bl (JC53bl-13) cells has been optimized and validated. Because this assay has been adopted by multiple laboratories worldwide, an external proficiency testing program was developed to ensure data equivalency across laboratories performing this neutralizing antibody assay for HIV/AIDS vaccine clinical trials. The program was optimized by conducting three independent rounds of testing, with an increased level of stringency from the first to third round. Results from the participating domestic and international laboratories improved each round as factors that contributed to inter-assay variability were identified and minimized. Key contributors to increased agreement were experience among laboratories and standardization of reagents. A statistical qualification rule was developed using a simulation procedure based on the three optimization rounds of testing, where a laboratory qualifies if at least 25 of the 30 ID50 values lie within the acceptance ranges. This ensures no more than a 20% risk that a participating laboratory fails to qualify when it should, as defined by the simulation procedure. Five experienced reference laboratories were identified and tested a series of standardized reagents to derive the acceptance ranges for pass-fail criteria. This Standardized Proficiency Testing Program is the first available for the evaluation and documentation of assay equivalency for laboratories performing HIV-1 neutralizing antibody assays and may provide guidance for the development of future proficiency testing programs for other assay platforms.

Department

Description

Provenance

Subjects

Cell Line, Tumor, Humans, HIV-1, HIV Infections, AIDS Vaccines, HIV Antibodies, Neutralization Tests, Reference Standards, Quality Control, Antibodies, Neutralizing, Laboratory Proficiency Testing

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1016/j.jim.2011.09.007

Publication Info

Todd, Christopher A, Kelli M Greene, Xuesong Yu, Daniel A Ozaki, Hongmei Gao, Yunda Huang, Maggie Wang, Gary Li, et al. (2012). Development and implementation of an international proficiency testing program for a neutralizing antibody assay for HIV-1 in TZM-bl cells. Journal of immunological methods, 375(1-2). pp. 57–67. 10.1016/j.jim.2011.09.007 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/33638.

This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.

Scholars@Duke

Montefiori

David Charles Montefiori

Professor in Surgery

Dr. Montefiori is Professor and Director of the Laboratory for HIV and COVID-19 Vaccine Research & Development in the Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. His major research interests are viral immunology and HIV and COVID-19 vaccine development, with a special emphasis on neutralizing antibodies.

Multiple aspects of HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies are studied in his laboratory, including mechanisms of neutralization and escape, epitope diversity among the different genetic subtypes and geographic distributions of the virus, neutralizing epitopes, requirements to elicit protective neutralizing antibodies by vaccination, optimal combinations of neutralizing antibodies for immunoprophylaxis, and novel vaccine designs for HIV-1. Dr. Montefiori also directs large vaccine immune monitoring programs funded by the NIH and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that operate in compliance with Good Clinical Laboratory Practices and has served as a national and international resource for standardized assessments of neutralizing antibody responses in preclinical and clinical trials of candidate HIV vaccines since 1988.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic he turned his attention to SARS-CoV-2, with a special interest in emerging variants and how they might impact transmission, vaccines and immunotherapeutics. His rapid response to emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern provided some of the earliest evidence of the potential risk the variants pose to vaccines. In May 2020, his laboratory was recruited by the US Government to lead the national neutralizing antibody laboratory program for COVID-19 vaccines.

His laboratory utilizes FDA approved validated assay criteria to facilitate regulatory approvals of COVID-19 vaccines. He has published over 750 original research papers that have helped shape the scientific rationale for antibody-based vaccines.

Sarzotti-Kelsoe

Marcella Sarzotti-Kelsoe

Research Professor of Integrative Immunobiology

Ongoing Applied Activities 
•I direct a Global Quality Assurance Program, which I developed and pioneered here at Duke University, to oversee compliance with Good Clinical Laboratory Practice Guidelines in three HIV vaccine trial networks (CHAVI, CAVD, Duke HVTN, EQAPOL, Duke VTEU) involving domestic and international laboratory sites.
•I also direct a Global Proficiency Testing Program for laboratories testing for neutralizing antibody function in individuals infected with HIV or vaccinated against HIV. The Program was launched in 2009.
•I provide assistance and oversight for endpoint assay standardization, qualification and validation, as well as for the QSU of the GMP facility at DHVI, which will manufacture HIV vaccine products for first-in-man Phase I trials.

Past Basic Research
•Development of T cell responses in neonates.
•Neonatal T cell receptor Vβ repertoire diversity in the peripheral T cell pool.
•The role of heat shock protein, as a natural adjuvant, at eliciting innate and adaptive immune responses.
•Development of the T cell receptor repertoire in naïve, immunodeficient infants, given bone marrow or thymic transplantation.
•Thymic output, T cell diversity and T cell function in long-term human SCID chimeras.
•Telomere length in T cells from SCID chimeras.



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