Figure 2. Mother to child transmission (MTCT) can be used to examine the impact of pre-infection antibodies in preventing HIV-1 acquisition.

(1) Infants are exposed to HIV-1-infected mother’s virus and acquire maternal antibodies. (2 and 3) In our studies, we showed that infants born to mothers with broad and potent neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) were more likely to acquire HIV-1 through breast feeding and more likely to have a severe adverse outcome (SAE) or death.