Novel vaccine concept developed by scientists at the Wistar Institute

Protein from herpes virus serves as potent vaccine enhancer

Creating vaccines to protect people against viral diseases like AIDS, cervical cancer and infectious hepatitis is a delicate balancing act: If the immune systems response to the vaccine is too strong, toxic side effects can kill the patient. If its not strong enough, the virus will spread faster than the immune system can kill it.

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Uncovering the Achilles’ heel of the HIV-1 envelope

New structural details illustrate how a promising class of antibodies may block human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection and reveal valuable clues for design of an effective HIV-1 vaccine. The findings, published by Cell Press in the January issue of Immunity, are particularly significant as antibody induction appears to be a key and necessary component of an effective HIV vaccine, evidenced by the recent failure of vaccines that stimulated only the T cell arm of the immune system to protect humans from contracting HIV-1.

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New picture of HIV-1’s protein jacket identifies target for antibody-based vaccine

By coaxing the HIV-1 protein to reveal a hidden portion of its protein coat, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School have provided a newly detailed picture of how protective, or so-called broadly neutralizing, antibodies block HIV-1 infection.

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New drug reduces abdominal fat accumulation and improves lipids in HIV-infected patients

Treatment with an investigational drug that induces the release of growth hormone significantly improved the symptoms of HIV lipodystrophy, a condition involving the redistribution of fat and other metabolic changes in patients receiving combination drug therapy for HIV infection. A team led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and McGill University Health Centre found that treatment with tesamorelin, a growth-hormone-releasing factor, significantly reduced deep abdominal fat deposits and improved the metabolic aspects of HIV lipodystrophy in a group of patients with the syndrome. The report of a six-month Phase 3 clinical trial of tesamorelin appears in the December 6 New England Journal of Medicine.

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Studies Suggest HIV Subtype More Deadly Than Others

HIV Survival Rate Significantly Shorter in Thailand Compared to Other Regions

Two studies led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that people infected with HIV in Thailand die from the disease significantly sooner than those with HIV living in other parts of the world. According to the researchers, the shorter survival time measured in the studies suggests that HIV subtype E, which is the most common HIV subtype in Thailand, may be more virulent than other subtypes of the virus. Both studies are published in a special issue of the journal AIDS, the offical journal of the International AIDS Society.

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Second pathway behind HIV-associated immune system dysfunction identified

Potential treatment target needs further investigation before clinical testing

Researchers at the Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (PARC-MGH) may have discovered a second molecular switch responsible for turning off the immune systems response against HIV. Last year members of the same team identified a molecule called PD-1 that suppresses the activity of HIV-specific CD8 T cells that should destroy virus-infected cells. Now the researchers describe how a regulatory protein called CTLA-4 inhibits the action of HIV-specific CD4 T cells that control the overall response against the virus. The report will appear in the journal Nature Immunology and is receiving early online release.

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MicroRNAs may be key to HIV’s ability to hide, evade drugs, Jefferson scientists find

(PHILADELPHIA) Tiny pieces of genetic material called microRNA (miRNA), better known for its roles in cancer, could be a key to unlocking the secrets of how HIV, the AIDS virus, evades detection, hiding in the immune system. Researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have shown that when an individual infected with HIV receives a powerful cocktail of antiviral agents called HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy), the virus calls on miRNAs to help it remain quiet and practically undetectable, temporarily shutting down its ability to replicate and infect.

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Progression of SIV infection in monkeys raises

A sudden loss of T cells — white blood cells crucial to the immune system — is not the trigger for the onset of AIDS, according to a study published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Immunology by a team of researchers at Tulane National Primate Research Center.

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Pregnancy may slow — not accelerate — progression to AIDS

A new study may help put to rest fears that pregnancy accelerates progression to full-blown AIDS in women with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy. The study, published in the October 1st issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases and now available online, revealed that pregnancy may, in fact, slow disease progression in these women.

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Decline in blood platelet count associated with increased risk of HIV-related dementia

HIV patients with declining platelet counts appear to be at increased risk for HIVassociated dementia, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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