The dynamics of the cellular immune response to HIV infection: implications for vaccination.
Recent advances in measuring T-cell responses to viruses have led to new insights into how these T cells respond. In the acute infection there are massive CD8+ T-cell responses to both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Many of these T cells are effector cells and only a minority appear to be capable of maintaining immunological memory. In persistent virus infections, high levels of antigen-specific effector cells persist. If virus does not persist, the effectors fade in number but memory is maintained and is primed to react rapidly to a new challenge. A vaccine that stimulates only T-cell responses may protect when these memory cells respond rapidly enough to generate high numbers of effectors before the infecting virus becomes established.
McMichael
A J
AJ
MRC Human Immunology Unit, Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Callan
M
M
Appay
V
V
Hanke
T
T
Ogg
G
G
Rowland-Jones
S
S
D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination
D016915:AIDS Vaccines