HLA-II-Associated HIV-1 Adaptation Decreases CD4⁺ T-Cell Responses in HIV-1 Vaccine Recipients.

ABSTRACT: Epitopes with evidence of HLA-II-associated adaptation induce poorly immunogenic CD4⁺ T-cell responses in HIV-positive (HIV⁺) individuals. Many such escaped CD4⁺ T-cell epitopes are encoded by HIV-1 vaccines being evaluated in clinical trials. Here, we assessed whether this viral adaptation adversely impacts CD4⁺ T-cell responses following HIV-1 vaccination, thereby representing escaped epitopes. When evaluated in separate peptide pools, vaccine-encoded adapted epitopes (AE) induced CD4⁺ T-cell responses less frequently than nonadapted epitopes (NAE). We also demonstrated that in a polyvalent vaccine, where both forms of the same epitope were encoded, AE were less immunogenic. NAE-specific CD4⁺ T cells had increased, albeit

SUBMITTER: Files JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9472760 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature