Broadly neutralizing antibodies suppress post-transcytosis HIV-1 infectivity.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) offer promising opportunities for preventing HIV-1 infection in humans. Immunoprophylaxis with potent bNAbs efficiently protects non-human primates from mucosal transmission even after repeated challenges. However, the precise mechanisms of bNAb-mediated viral inhibition in mucosal tissues are currently unknown. Here, we show that immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgA bNAbs do not interfere with the endocytic transport of HIV-1 across epithelial cells, a process referred to as transcytosis. Instead, both viruses and antibodies are translocated to the basal pole of epithelial cells, possibly in the form of an immune complex. Importantly, as opposed to free virions, viral particles bound by bNAbs are no longer infectious after transepithelial transit. Post-transcytosis neutralization activity of bNAbs displays comparable inhibitory concentrations as those measured in classical neutralization assays. Thus, bNAbs do not block the transport of incoming HIV-1 viruses across the mucosal epithelium but rather neutralize the transcytosed virions, highlighting their efficient prophylactic and protective activity in vivo.

Exploitation of high-yields in hard-rock aquifers: downscaling methodology combining GIS and multicriteria analysis to delineate field prospecting zones.

Based on research work in the Truyère River catchment of the Massif Central (Lozère Department, France), a methodology has been developed for delineating favorable prospecting zones of a few square kilometers within basement areas of several hundred, if not thousand, square kilometers for the purpose of sitting high-yield water wells. The methodology adopts a functional approach to hard-rock aquifers using a conceptual model of the aquifer structure and of the functioning of the main aquifer compartments: the alterites (weathered and decayed rock), the underlying weathered-fissured zone, and the fractured bedrock. It involves an economically feasible method of mapping the thickness and spatial distribution of the alterites and the weathered-fissured zone, on which the long-term exploitation of the water resource chiefly depends. This method is used for the first time in hydrogeology. The potential ground water resources were mapped by GIS multicriteria analysis using parameters characterizing the structure and functioning of the aquifer, i.e., lithology and hydrogeological properties of the substratum, nature and thickness of the alterites and weathered-fissured zone, depth of the water table, slope, fracture networks and present-day tectonic stresses, and forecasted ground water quality. The methodology involves a coherent process of downscaling that, through applying methods that are increasingly precise but also increasingly costly, enables the selection of sites with diminishing surface areas as the work advances. The resulting documents are used for ground water exploration, although they can also be applied to the broader domain of land-use management.