Cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in HIV-1-infected long-term nonprogressors: lessons for vaccine design. (July 2008)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Navis, Marjon; Miedema, Frank; Schuitemaker, Hanneke
• Is Part Of: Future HIV therapy. Volume 2:Number 4(2008)
• Page Start: 351
• Page End: 361
• Publication Date: 2008-07
• Subjects: CD8+ T cells -- escape mutations -- fitness cost -- human leukocyte antigen -- long-term nonprogression -- reversion -- selection pressure -- transmission; HIV (Viruses) -- Treatment -- Periodicals; HIV (Viruses) -- Research -- Periodicals; 616.979206
• DOI: 10.2217/17469600.2.4.351
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-9600

Abstract

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are considered to play an important role in the containment of HIV-1 infection. Their efficacy is, however, limited as they also continuously select for HIV-1 variants with escape mutations in CTL epitopes. Moreover, it remains to be established whether the preservation of high frequencies of HIV-1-specific CTLs in long-term nonprogressive HIV-1 infection are the cause or consequence of controlled HIV infection. On the positive side, some escape mutations seem to come at a fitness cost to the virus, which may imply that some CTLs, by selecting HIV-1 variants with reduced replication competence, still contribute to a reduced viral load. The implications of current knowledge on HIV-specific cellular immunity for vaccine development will be discussed.