Persistent hepatitis C viral replication despite priming of functional CD8+ T cells by combined therapy with a vaccine and a direct-acting antiviral.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Exhaustion of antiviral CD8(+) T cells contributes to persistence of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection. This immune response has proved difficult to restore by therapeutic vaccination, even when HCV replication is suppressed using antiviral regimens containing type I interferon. Because immunomodulatory effects of type I interferon may be a factor in poor T-cell priming, we undertook therapeutic vaccination in two chronically infected chimpanzees during treatment with a direct-acting antiviral (DAA) targeting the HCV NS5b polymerase protein. Immunization with genetic vaccines encoding the HCV NS3-NS5b nonstructural proteins during DAA treatment resulted in a multifunctional CD8(+) T-cell response. However, these antiviral CD8(+) T cells did not prevent persistent replica

SUBMITTER: Callendret B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4840073 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature