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Study Finds Some Elite Controllers Indistinguishable From HIV-negative Persons Print E-mail
In an abstract published online ahead of print today in the Journal of Virology, International HIV Controller Study collaborators characterized genetic signatures in the CD4 T-cells of an "unselected" cohort of elite controllers to further elucidate underlying immunological and virological mechanisms of HIV-1 control. Genetic profiles of the majority of elite controllers were similiar to patients on antiretroviral therapy, although different from HIV-1 negative persons. However, in a smaller proportion of elite controllers, an alternative genetic pattern was observed that was indistinguishable from that of HIV-1 negative persons, and different from individuals on highly active antiretroviral medications. Significantly higher CD4 T-cell counts and smaller levels of HIV-1 specific CD8+ T-cell responses were measured in this sub-group of elite controllers. who did not significantly differ from other elite controllers in respect to viral loads and HLA class I alleles. This study team concludes that the data identify a "specific subgroup of elite controllers whose immunological and gene expression characteristics approximate those of HIV-1 negative persons."
Abstract Accessed 12/22/10, at: http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/JVI.01846-10v1
 
Zephyr Foundation Print E-mail

The Organization for Long-Term Non-Progressors (LTNPs) of HIV 

As researchers around the world strive toward a therapeutic vaccine with which to curb the AIDS pandemic, they begin to focus on a small but growing band of people who test positive for the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV). Their views, and their clinical studies, reveal that these rare individuals may hold a possible key to unlock the mystery of AIDS. This growing band of individuals is called 'Long-Term Non-Progressors' (LTNPs) and HIV Controllers (HCs). As of June 2010, 1725 of these individuals have been identified and volunteer to participate in clinical research studies throughout the world.
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From Mice Into Men Print E-mail

POZ Magazine
October / November 2010

by Regan Hofmann with Tim Horn

The gap between groundbreaking scientific discoveries and a game-changing cure has never been greater. And yet, researchers say we could be closer to a cure than many have dared believe. To close that gap, and increase the chances we’ll see the end of AIDS in our lifetimes, we need more advocacy, a lot more money and the courage to get as many viable options out of mice and into humans. You in?

  
 
Click here to read a digital edition of this article.

Cure. It’s a word few have been willing to pair with AIDS since we thought we had the virus kicked in ’96. For nearly 15 years, talk of a cure has been verboten. Those who have dared utter it (including on the pages of this magazine) were dismissed as dreamers. Since the late 1990s, research, advocacy and funding around HIV/AIDS have focused almost exclusively on prevention and treatment. And yet, it has become clear that we can neither treat nor prevent our way out of the pandemic. The ethical, logistical, sociological and financial barriers to trying to end AIDS with pills and awareness campaigns are proving too great.
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The 2010 scientific strategic plan of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise Print E-mail
Commentary from Nature Medicine
Full article is freely available at Nature Medicine
 
The Council of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, Seth Berkley, Kenneth Bertram, Jean-François Delfraissy, Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, Anthony Fauci, Cynthia Hallenbeck, Madame Jeannette Kagame, Peter Kim, Daisy Mafubelu, Malegapuru W Makgoba, Peter Piot, Mark Walport, Mitchell Warren & Tadataka Yamada for Members of the Enterprise, José Esparza, Catherine Hankins, Margaret I Johnston, Yves Lévy & Manuel Romaris for Alternate members, Rafi Ahmed & Alan Bernstein for Ex-officio members
AffiliationsCorresponding author
Nature Medicine 16 , 981–989 (2010) doi:10.1038/nm0910-981 
 
An important moment in HIV vaccine research
HIV/AIDS remains one of humanity's greatest challenges. Since 1981, it has claimed over 25 million lives and is
currently responsible for over 2.5 million new infections worldwide each year1. Although progress has been made in
preventing new HIV infections and in lowering the annual number of AIDS-related deaths through comprehensive
prevention programs and increased access to antiretroviral therapy, the number of people living with HIV—now over 33
million—continues to grow1. Currently, only two out of five people who need treatment receive it, and even this modest
level of progress in treatment is in jeopardy, as the availability of donor funds plateaus or declines2. Whereas universal
access to treatment is an ambitious goal, the annual accrual of newly infected individuals who require treatment
testifies to the urgent need for more effective prevention strategies. Vaccines are the primary public health intervention
for dozens of infectious diseases worldwide; they are easy to administer and yield lasting effects. As one of the most
powerful tools for preventing infection against other infectious diseases, a safe, effective, accessible HIV vaccine is
therefore one of our greatest priorities—and one of science's greatest challenges.
The unique ability of HIV to evade and suppress the immune response, its extraordinary genetic diversity, the
properties of its envelope glycoprotein and the ability to establish systemic infection within days and to induce
dysfunction and death of the immune cells needed to mount a protective response have posed unprecedented
challenges for vaccine development3. Nonetheless, although a highly effective HIV vaccine remains elusive, we have
never been closer to the target. Among the most visible achievements of the past five years were the results of RV144,
the trial conducted in Thailand, that showed that a poxvirus-protein prime-boost combination provided modest (31%)
protection against HIV acquisition4. These results represent the first-ever demonstration of any level of efficacy in
preventing HIV acquisition in humans by a vaccine. Although many questions remain, the results of the RV144 trial
have brought renewed energy to the field and created a new lens through which to evaluate future priorities and set
strategic directions.
There have been other key advances in HIV vaccine research over the past five years. They include a growing
understanding of the role of the mucosa as a barrier to sexually transmitted HIV infection5, descriptions of the earliest
immunological responses in humans after acute HIV infection6, the demonstration that HIV infection in humans is
usually initiated by one or a very small number of founder viruses7, 8, the development of computational algorithms to
inform the design of unique mosaic immunogens to address the challenge of viral sequence diversity by achieving
maximum epitope coverage while preserving natural antigen expression and processing9, new insights into the
immunological and genetic basis for the ability of some people to control the virus or prevent virus acquisition (socalled
'elite controllers' and 'exposed but uninfected persons', respectively)10, 11, the first proof of substantive simian
immunodeficiency virus control by CD8+ effector memory T cells induced through vaccination12, the isolation of new
antibodies with broadly neutralizing activity from HIV-infected subjects13, 14, 15 and appreciation of the possible role of
non-neutralizing antibodies in protection16, 17, 18.
Progress in other areas of biomedicine, including the development of faster and cheaper DNA sequencing, highthroughput
and computational technologies, will increasingly affect the progress of HIV vaccine research and
development. Last, although two large-scale human efficacy trials—STEP and Phambili—failed to confer protection19,
further analysis of these trials has influenced current thinking about the direction of HIV vaccine design, development
and clinical evaluation20, 21.
It is now incumbent upon the field to translate the opportunities created by these developments into a safe and
effective HIV vaccine suitable for use in populations with markedly different epidemiological, social, genetic and
behavioral characteristics. This next stage in HIV vaccine research requires a strengthened global strategy that
incorporates current efforts and encourages new and existing partners from high-, low- and middle-income countries to
embark on a shared scientific agenda.
...
Full article freely available at Nature Medicine
 
Elite control of HIV infection: implications for vaccine design (Summary) Print E-mail

Background: ‘Elite controllers’ are rare HIV-infected individuals who are able to spontaneously control HIV replication without medication, maintaining viral loads that are consistently below the limits of detection by currently available commercial assays.

Objective: To examine studies of elite controllers that may elucidate mechanisms of HIV immune control useful in designing a vaccine.

Methods: Recent literature on HIV controllers and studies that have evaluated aspects of viral and host immunology that correlate with viral control are examined.

Results/conclusions: Although many elements of innate and adaptive immunity are associated with control of HIV infection, the specific mechanism(s) by which elite controllers achieve control remain undefined. Ongoing studies of elite controllers, including those examining host genetic polymorphisms, should facilitate the definition of an effective HIV-specific immune response and guide vaccine design.
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CROI 2011

  • Wednesday 9th March 2011
    This is our final bulletin from CROI 2011. We hope you have found our news coverage useful. You can find all our coverage at www.aidsmap.com/croi2011, including the news reports and bulletins.We are always looking for ways of improving and developing our resources – so if you have any comments that you would like
  • Thursday 3rd March 2011
    There is increasing evidence of the transmission of HIV strains with resistance to anti-HIV drugs in low- and middle-income countries. Research in eleven sub-Saharan African countries showed that the chances of detecting transmitted resistance increased by over a third each year that a country had been scaling up HIV treatment. A separate study involving people recently diagnosed
  • Wednesday 2nd March 2011
    A new type of anti-HIV drug that targets the first step in HIV’s entry into cells has done well in a Phase IIa study. Currently known as BMS-663068, the drug was shown to be safe and to work against the virus. HIV cell entry is a three-step process. The virus must first attach to the

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