Category: Immune-based therapies
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The past decade has seen a boom in the identification of antibodies capable of potently neutralizing a broad array of different HIV isolates (broadly neutralizing antibodies or bNAbs). New technologies that allow antibodies to be fished from huge numbers of individual B cells and tested for activity have spurred this rapid acceleration of discovery. There…
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The cytokine interleukin-15 (IL-15) can exert a range of effects on the immune system, but is particularly important for promoting the proliferation and function of natural killer (NK) cells and CD8 T cells. Some observational studies in HIV have suggested salutary effects of higher IL-15 levels, in one case finding an association with delayed viral load…
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Since posting recently about studies investigating the relevance of the CD4/CD8 ratio in the antiretroviral therapy era, several new papers and presentations have provided more information on the topic. Last week in the open access journal PLoS Pathogens, Sergio Serrano-Villar and colleagues reported evidence that a low CD4/CD8 ratio (less than or equal to 0.4)—despite…
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In addition to studies covered in prior posts (a possible second pediatric cure case, Sangamo’s gene therapy and limitations of latency-reversing agents), CROI 2014 featured a smorgasbord of presentations related to pathogenesis and cure research. Webcasts of all conference sessions are online, and many posters are now available in PDF format. Brief summaries of some notable studies are…
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A subset of HIV-positive people who initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) and achieve suppression of HIV replication experience poor recovery of CD4 T cell numbers. Terms used to describe this subset of individuals include “discordant responders” and “immunological non-responders” (INRs). As yet, there is no universally accepted definition of INRs and a variety of CD4 T…
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An inversion of the normal ratio between CD4 and CD8 T cells was noted in the very first case reports of individuals with AIDS, before HIV was even identified. Although a number of studies subsequently reported an association between the CD4/CD8 ratio and risk of disease progression, CD4 T cell counts were more extensively researched…
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HIV is notoriously stubborn in its ability to thwart attacks by antibodies. The sugary outer envelope of the virus is so effective in cloaking its vulnerabilities that, for many years, the number of antibodies known to have broad neutralizing activity against HIV could be counted on one hand. But recently, collaborative research efforts aiming to…
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The April issue of Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics features an excellent open access review by Thomas Rasmussen and colleagues describing approaches to eliminating HIV reservoirs that are advancing into clinical trials. Prominently featured are histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, which have emerged as lead candidates for liberating latent HIV from cellular lockdown. The paper offers detailed…
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Coverage of some subjectively selected presentations from the recent CROI meeting in Atlanta, in addition to the prior post on the case report of a potentially functionally cured infant. Gene Modification of Virus-Specific CD4 T Cells Patrick Younan from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center delivered an interesting talk about transplantation of gene-modified stem cells in…
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Several years ago scientists discovered a link between T-cell dysfunction and the expression of a receptor named PD-1 on the T-cell surface. The initial discovery related to T cells in mice that had become functionally compromised due to battling a chronic viral infection (LCMV); it turned out that these exhausted T cells expressed very high…