The Human Immune Response to HIV and its Impact in the Potential Development of an Inactivated HIV Vaccine

There is evidence that the transmission and acute phase of HIV infection triggers an immune response capable of controlling HIV subverted by the process of virus integration, essential to the replicative cycle of retroviruses. We review here two aspects that deserve consideration in light of recent developments concerning HIV transmission and vaccine development: vaccines directed against transmitted/founder viruses, and a reconsideration of inactivation as a viable means to obtain a preventive HIV vaccine. Since 80% of sexually transmitted HIV infections are caused by a single transmitted/founder variant, it is appropriate to target transmitted/founder viruses for vaccine development. Transmitted/founder virus transmission is subject to strong natural selection based on conserved signatures present in all forms of transmitted/founder HIV viruses. This provides an opportunity to pursue inactivation methods of vaccine development that allow antigenic preservation of HIV transmitted/founder viruses. The presentation to the immune system of an inactivated but antigenically preserved transmitted/founder virus should allow the development of an effective immune response against transmitted/founder viruses. This could be the base for an inactivated transmitted/founder virus HIV vaccine. We have devised a method of inactivation of HIV reverse transcriptase through the use of a novel photo-labeling procedure based on the use of photo-labeled analogs of antiretroviral compounds with specific affinity for HIV reverse transcriptase. We believe this method fulfills the required conditions for an effective preventive vaccine development: inactivation and antigenic preservation.