New HIV immunotherapy vaccine envisaged
Researchers are investigating various compounds that immunomodulate dendritic cells in order to develop immunotherapy for HIV, an abstract presented at the International
AIDS Conference in Toronto this week has revealed.
Investigators took dendritic cells derived from people with HIV-1 and
non-infected individuals, and treated the cells with immunomodulators
to find out which of the agents would cause the dendritic cells to produce
interleukin-12 and thereby stimulate killer T-cells against a given viral
antigen.
“This model of T-cell activation by dendritic cells provides a
basis for immunotherapy trials of persons with HIV-1 infection,” say
the authors.
They identified combinations of agents (recombinant trimeric CD40L [Amgen] ± interferon-gamma,
and TRL3 agonist poly-1:C + interferon-gamma + interferon-alfa) that
were the most potent immunomodulators of dendritic cells.
Charles Rinaldo, from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and
lead author of the study, commented: “The goal of the approach
is to teach killer T-cells to more efficiently find, detect and destroy
HIV infected cells. Our vaccine, as an immunotherapy, is custom-designed
to target the unique virus that has evolved in each individual being
treated. A patient’s own dendritic cells together with their unique
viral antigens comprise the main elements of the vaccine.” |
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