Despite remarkable advances in managing disease progression in people infected with HIV, an effective vaccine to prevent infectivity and stop the HIV epidemic remains an unmet clinical need. The genetic variability of the virus and the poor natural immune response—humoral and cellular—generated against HIV are hurdles that pose challenges to vaccine development. In 'Bench to Bedside', Bruce Walker, Rafi Ahmed and Stanley Plotkin examine a study in rhesus macaques where a vector-based viral vaccine that elicits a persistent and rapid T effector cell response to SIV antigens results in control of the infection. Although only 50% of the rhesus macaques controlled the infection, this in vivo finding stresses how outdoing the natural immune cellular response can prove effective to clear systemic viruses. But a humoral response will still remain the 'holy grail' to avoid HIV infection and transmission. In 'Bedside to Bench' Tom Hope peruses recent vaccine trials to propose how to best achieve an effective antibody response against HIV by discussing the perks and perils of non-neutralizing versus broadly neutralizing antibodies.
- Bruce D Walker
- Rafi Ahmed
- Stanley Plotkin
