The New York Times - July 3, 1986

In a separate report, researchers at Harvard University and a biotechnology concern said they were able to produce large quantities of a substance that might hold promise as a vaccine against acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

The AIDS virus was previously known to attack T-cells and B-cells, white blood cells vital to the immune system. Workers at the National Cancer Institute found evidence of the virus in mononuclear phagocytes, part of the body's first line of defense against invaders.

Phagocytes, found throughout tissue and in the bloodstream, are scavenger cells that normally engulf and destroy invaders such as viruses. They can also present marauders to T-cells and B-cells and initiate production of antibodies. Explanation for Symptoms

AIDS, a lethal ailment, destroys the body's immune system, leaving victims open to a variety of infections. They often suffer neurological symptoms such as delirium that indicate the virus has attacked the brain and nervous system. The virus's effect on T- and B-cells did not explain the symptoms, the scientists wrote.

Infected phagocytes were found in brain and lung tissue samples from AIDS patients, indicating the brain infection might be caused by the phagocytes, the scientists wrote.

Once the virus invades a cell, it makes many more copies of itself using the cell's reproductive machinery. Phagocytes harboring AIDS virus were found to be more powerfully infective than T-cells, another clue the phagocytes may be responsible for passing the virus to the rest of the immune system. Other infected cells may later pass the virus back to healthly phagocytes.

Material Neutralizes Virus

The researchers at Genentech Inc. in South San Francisco, Calif., and at Harvard University found that an antigen, a bit of protein from the coating surrounding the virus, could be used to make antibodies that neutralized the virus in test tubes.

Theoretically, a human injected with the antigen would produce the same antibodies and be protected against the effects of the virus.

The researchers wrote, however, that the substance must be tested in animals, such as chimpanzees. The important point, they wrote, is that the protein can be produced safely in large quantities.

The protein, GP-130, is one of a number being investigated for use as a vaccine. Since the proteins are only from the virus's coat and are not the whole virus, researchers are certain the vaccines themselves would not cause symptoms of AIDS.

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