title: Living in a house of cards: re-evaluating CD8+ T-cell immune correlates against HIV.
abstract: The Merck STEP and the Thai RV144 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine trials confirmed that we still have a long way to go before developing a prophylactic HIV vaccine. The main issue at hand is that we have yet to identify an immunological correlate of protection against HIV. While many question the T-cell-based approach towards vaccine development, it is likely that T cells will be a necessary part of any vaccine strategy. CD8(+) T cells remain an attractive option because of their ability to specifically recognize and eliminate virally infected host cells. In this review, we recapitulate the evidence for CD8(+) T cells as an immunological correlate against HIV, but more importantly, we assess the means by which we evaluate their antiviral capacity. To achieve a breakthrough in the domain of T-cell-based HIV vaccine development, it has become abundantly clear that we must overhaul our system of immune monitoring and come up with a 'rational' tactic to evaluate the efficacy of HIV-specific CD8(+) T cells.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Makedonas
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Betts
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D054353:Perforin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D016207:Cytokines; D054353:Perforin