HIV Vaccine Research and Development: Challenges, Advancements, and Opportunities

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology and Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 1053

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Medicines Research Centre, GSK, Siena, Italy
Interests: understanding the role of antibodies; support the development of efficacious vaccines against infectious diseases and establish global portfolio for vaccines
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite significant advances in antiretroviral therapies, the global HIV/AIDS pandemic remains a major public health challenge, with 38 million people currently living with the virus and 1.7 million people newly infected each year. The extraordinary genetic diversity and rapid mutation rate of the virus are the primary obstacles for a protective HIV vaccine. Accordingly, researchers have focused on structure (including computational) -based vaccine design, which utilizes the detailed knowledge of HIV's molecular structure and the host immune response to develop innovative vaccine candidates.

This Special Issue will collect original research papers and review articles that highlight the challenges, progress, and potential solutions in the quest to create an HIV vaccine, with a focus on structure-based design. Potential topics include:

  1. Structure-guided immunogen design approaches, including the development of stabilized Env trimers or scaffolded epitope-focused immunogens and new understandings of the interactions between antigens and antibodies.
  2. New insights into the complex interplay between host immunity and HIVs, including the role of T-cell responses in vaccine-induced protection.
  3. Emerging technologies and computational approaches that facilitate the rational design of HIV vaccine candidates.

We hope that this collection of articles will inspire further research, collaboration, and innovation in the pursuit of an effective HIV vaccine, contributing to the global effort to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Dr. Sanjay Phogat
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • structure-based vaccine design
  • envelope glycoprotein (env)
  • broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnabs)
  • T-cell responses

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 1242 KiB  
Article
Immunogenicity of the Conjugate Meningococcal ACWY-TT Vaccine in Children and Adolescents Living with HIV
by Arantxa Berzosa, Sara Guillen, Cristina Epalza, Luis Escosa, Maria Luisa Navarro, Luis M. Prieto, Talía Sainz, Santiago Jimenez de Ory, Marina Montes, Raquel Abad, Julio A. Vázquez, Irene Serrano García and José Tomás Ramos-Amador
Microorganisms 2024, 12(1), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12010030 - 23 Dec 2023
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Abstract
Background: Children and adolescents living with HIV (CALHIV) are at high risk of meningococcal infections and may present lower immune responses to vaccines. The objectives of this study were to assess the immunogenicity of the quadrivalent Men ACWY-TT vaccine (Nimenrix®) in [...] Read more.
Background: Children and adolescents living with HIV (CALHIV) are at high risk of meningococcal infections and may present lower immune responses to vaccines. The objectives of this study were to assess the immunogenicity of the quadrivalent Men ACWY-TT vaccine (Nimenrix®) in CALHIV after a two-dose schedule and to describe possible HIV-related factors that may affect the immunogenic response. Methods: A multicenter prospective study was designed, including CALHIV followed in five hospitals in Madrid, between 2019 and 2021. Two doses of the Men ACWY-TT vaccine were administered. Serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) assays using rabbit complement (rSBA) against serogroups C, W, and Y were used to determine seroprotection and vaccine response (the proportion achieving a putative protective titer of ≥eight or a ≥four-fold rise in titer from baseline). Serum was collected at baseline, and at 3 and 12 months after vaccination. Results: There were 29 CALHIV included, 76% of whom were perinatally infected. All were receiving TAR and presented a good immunovirological and clinical status overall. At baseline, 45% of CALHIV had seroprotective titers to at least one serogroup, with individual seroprotection rates of 24%, 28%, and 32% against C, W, and Y, respectively. After a two-dose schedule, vaccine response was 83% for each serogroup, eliciting a vaccine response to all serogroups in 69% of them. One year after vaccination, 75% of CALHIV maintained seroprotective titers against the C serogroup, and 96% against W and Y. None of the HIV-related characteristics analyzed could predict vaccine response or antibody duration. Conclusions: CALHIV who received effective TAR and presented a good immuno-virological situation achieved an appropriate vaccine response after two doses of the Men ACWY-TT vaccine, and antibody-mediated protection against serogroups C, W, and Y was maintained in more than 70% of the patients one year after vaccination. Full article
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