title: Current Advances in Virus-Like Particles as a Vaccination Approach against HIV Infection.
abstract: HIV-1 virus-like particles (VLPs) are promising vaccine candidates against HIV-1 infection. They are capable of preserving the native conformation of HIV-1 antigens and priming CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses efficiently via cross presentation by both major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and II molecules. Progress has been achieved in the preclinical research of HIV-1 VLPs as prophylactic vaccines that induce broadly neutralizing antibodies and potent T cell responses. Moreover, the progress in HIV-1 dendritic cells (DC)-based immunotherapy provides us with a new vision for HIV-1 vaccine development. In this review, we describe updates from the past 5 years on the development of HIV-1 VLPs as a vaccine candidate and on the combined use of HIV particles with HIV-1 DC-based immunotherapy as efficient prophylactic and therapeutic vaccination strategies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Human Retrovirology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada. chongbozhao@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Chongbo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Human Retrovirology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada. Zhujun.Ao@umanitoba.ca.
authors.forename: Zhujun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Human Retrovirology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada. Xiao-Jian.Yao@umanitoba.ca.|Department of Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Hunan, China. Xiao-Jian.Yao@umanitoba.ca.
authors.forename: Xiaojian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yao
keywords: HIV-1; adjuvants; dendritic cells; dendritic cells-based immunotherapy; vaccine; virus-like paticles (VLPs)