Proteomic analysis of plasma in healthy adults receiving recombinant vaccinia virus provides novel insights into HIV‐1 neutralizing antibodies

Abstract Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is still a global public health issue, and the development of an effective prophylactic vaccine inducing potent neutralizing antibodies remains a significant challenge. This study aims to explore the inflammation‐related proteins associated with the neutralizing antibodies induced by the DNA/rTV vaccine. In this study, we employed the Olink chip to analyze the inflammation‐related proteins in plasma in healthy individuals receiving HIV candidate vaccine (DNA priming and recombinant vaccinia virus rTV boosting) and compared the differences between neutralizing antibody‐positive (nab + ) and –negative(nab‐) groups. We identified 25 differentially expressed factors and conducted enrichment and correlation analysis on them. Our results revealed that significant expression differences in artemin (ARTN) and C‐C motif chemokine ligand 23 (CCL23) between nab+ and –nab‐ groups. Notably, the expression of CCL23 was negatively corelated to the ID 50 of neutralizing antibodies and the intensity of the CD4 + T cell responses. This study enriches our understanding of the immune picture induced by the DNA/rTV vaccine, and provides insights for future HIV vaccine development.