New HIV Vaccine to be Developed by Immune Cell Adaptability

To escape detection by immune cells, HIV mutates rapidly in infected individuals. This process of continuous evolution is the main obstacle to natural immunity and the development of an effective vaccine. A new study published by Cell Press in the March 21 issue of the journal Immunity reveals that the immune system has the capacity to adapt such that it can recognize mutations in HIV. The findings suggest that our immune cells' adaptability could be harnessed to help in the fight against AIDS.

An international collaboration between research groups in France, England, Japan, and Australia discovered that immune cells from certain infected individuals were able to recognize HIV mutants. Researchers found that the immune cells' ability to recognize such mutant forms of the virus was associated with a protective response against HIV. This discovery begs the question: if mutant HIV can be recognized by immune cells, how then does HIV often escape immune detection? The researchers explain that the answer lies in HIV's ability to conceal itself from immune surveillance altogether. It does so by blocking infected cells from breaking down its viral particles and from then displaying them on the cells' surface to alert the immune system.