Abstract
Sterilising immunity against HIV-1 infection, whilst ideal, appears an unrealistic vaccination goal in the short term. More achievable is slowing the progression to disease and decreasing transmission by mounting strong T cell and neutralising antibody responses to maintain low viral loads. However, in both acute and chronic infection, mutant virus is selected to escape both arms of the adaptive immune system. Each mutation away from wildtype virus likely incurs at least some reduction in replicative capacity ("fitness") of the virus. Rapid reversion to wildtype of some immune escape mutations upon transmission, suggests fitness costs may be significant. HIV-1 Envelope is unique in that it is subject to both neutralising antibody and cell-mediated immune responses. Although Envelope is variable between strains, considerable serial pressure and mutational escape from both neutralising antibody and cytotoxic T lymphocyte attack may result in impaired structure and function. This could ultimately be exploited in HIV vaccine design.
Keywords: HIV-1, envelope, escape, vaccine, fitness, T cell, neutralising antibody
Current HIV Research
Title: Fitness Constraints on Immune Escape from HIV: Implications of Envelope as a Target for Both HIV-Specific T Cells and Antibody
Volume: 4 Issue: 2
Author(s): Viv Peut and Stephen J. Kent
Affiliation:
Keywords: HIV-1, envelope, escape, vaccine, fitness, T cell, neutralising antibody
Abstract: Sterilising immunity against HIV-1 infection, whilst ideal, appears an unrealistic vaccination goal in the short term. More achievable is slowing the progression to disease and decreasing transmission by mounting strong T cell and neutralising antibody responses to maintain low viral loads. However, in both acute and chronic infection, mutant virus is selected to escape both arms of the adaptive immune system. Each mutation away from wildtype virus likely incurs at least some reduction in replicative capacity ("fitness") of the virus. Rapid reversion to wildtype of some immune escape mutations upon transmission, suggests fitness costs may be significant. HIV-1 Envelope is unique in that it is subject to both neutralising antibody and cell-mediated immune responses. Although Envelope is variable between strains, considerable serial pressure and mutational escape from both neutralising antibody and cytotoxic T lymphocyte attack may result in impaired structure and function. This could ultimately be exploited in HIV vaccine design.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
Peut Viv and Kent J. Stephen, Fitness Constraints on Immune Escape from HIV: Implications of Envelope as a Target for Both HIV-Specific T Cells and Antibody, Current HIV Research 2006; 4 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/157016206776055110
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/157016206776055110 |
Print ISSN 1570-162X |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-4251 |
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
HIV vaccine development
The development of a safe and effective vaccine that impedes HIV-1 transmission and/or limits the severity of infection remains a public health priority. The HIV-1/AIDS pandemic continues to have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable and under-served communities in the USA and globally. In the USA, minority communities that have relatively ...read more
Lymphomas in people living with HIV (PLWH)
In the era of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART), the incidence of lymphoma among people living with HIV (PLWH) surpassed Kaposi's sarcoma in 2011, becoming the most common AIDS-defining malignancy. The annual incidence rate ranges approximately from 100 to 300 per 100,000 individuals with HIV infection as the population denominator, which ...read more
![Wayfinder Image](/images/wayfinder.jpg)
- Author Guidelines
- Graphical Abstracts
- Fabricating and Stating False Information
- Research Misconduct
- Post Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Publishing Ethics and Rectitude
- Increase Visibility of Your Article
- Archiving Policies
- Peer Review Workflow
- Order Your Article Before Print
- Promote Your Article
- Manuscript Transfer Facility
- Editorial Policies
- Allegations from Whistleblowers