A multitude of possible reasons have been suggested to explain the lack of success, including: vaccines may simply boost the ineffective immune responses from which HIV has largely escaped [13], early depletion of CD4 T cells particularly from gut [14], and/or preferential infection and deletion of HIV-specific CD4 T cells [15]. Moreover, fibrotic damage to lymph node architecture

[16] impairs the induction of new immune responses and/or fosters immune exhaustion/senescence [17] and [18]. Because the natural immune responses selleck induced by HIV infection rarely effectively control HIV replication, an effective therapeutic vaccine will likely need to elicit immune responses that are qualitatively different from those that emerge during typical, uncontrolled HIV infection. Knowledge regarding rare individuals who spontaneously control HIV replication in the absence of treatment (“elite controllers”) might be informative and substantial resources have been aimed at studying their immune responses [19].

Controllers generally have strong HIV-specific CD8 and perhaps CD4 functions that target conserved regions, although there are exceptions [10] and [20]. It is unclear, however, whether such responses are sufficient for control, and given the apparent contribution of favorable MHC Class I alleles to such responses in at least some controllers, whether such mechanisms can be generalized to the broader Oxygenase population level. Indeed, host genetic association studies suggest that a combination of T cell and innate (e.g., Bak protein NK cells) responses might be required [21]. Neutralizing antibodies do not appear to be associated with control,

although there are some emerging data suggesting that antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity [22] (ADCC) may contribute to control in at least some individuals. Many other potential mechanisms have been suggested for elite control (e.g., reduced viral fitness [23], cellular restriction [24], sustained T cell survival [25]), but these mechanisms have not been effectively translated to a therapeutic setting. Given the robust association between CD8 T cell function and control in natural infection [26], much of the emphasis in therapeutic vaccine research has understandably focused on generating potent and sustained CD8 antiviral activity in ART-treated individuals. This has proven challenging as most vaccines studied to date appear to simply increase the pre-existing immunodominant clones. Such cells are either exhausted or target regions of the virus that have already escaped. For this reason, strategies redirecting responses to subdominant conserved CTL epitopes are pursued [27]. Also many studies are now focused on individuals during acute infection, before onset of irreversible immune dysfunction and/or viral escape.