HIV PATHOGENISIS AND VACCINE RESEARCH
is headed by Koleka Mlisana.
The goals of HIV vaccines are to prevent infection and/or to slow the progression of HIV infection to clinical AIDS. Two of the key challenges in vaccine development are lack of clarity on what immune responses are needed and which components of the virus need to be targeted to protect against HIV infection. In an attempt to address these challenges, CAPRISA has been focusing since inception, on the earliest transmitted viruses and the earliest immune responses in acute HIV infection.
The pivotal study in this research programme is the CAPRISA 002 Acute Infection study which aims to characterize viral set point and clinical progression in subtype C infection and identify host, immunology and viral factors that predict disease progression.
The CAPRISA 002 Acute Infection study has shown that
| 01 |
There is a rapid loss of about half of the pre-infection CD4+ T cells during acute subtype C HIV-1 infection. |
|
10 |
The C3-V4 region is a major target of autologous neutralizing antibodies in HIV-1 subtype C infection. |
| 02 |
High proportion (~25%) of participants have rapid disease progression, needing antiretroviral therapy in the first 12 months of infection. |
|
11 |
Analysis of neutralization escape suggests limited neutralizing antibody specificities in early HIV-1 subtype C infection. |
| 03 |
The severity of clinical signs and symptoms during acute HIV-1 infection are correlated with enrolment viral load but not with subsequent disease progression. |
|
12 |
Early neutralization breadth in an HIV-1 subtype C infected individual is conferred by antibodies targeting the V1/V2 region. |
| 03 |
Diversity of virus at transmission impacts on disease progression. |
|
12 |
Broad HIV-1 neutralization is mediated by plasma antibodies against the gp41 membrane proximal external region. |
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false,false,1