The Human Immune Response to HIV and its Impact in the Potential Development of an Inactivated HIV Vaccine.

There is evidence that the transmission and acute phase of HIV infection triggers an immune response capable of controlling HIV subverted by the process of virus integration, essential to the replicative cycle of retroviruses. We review here two aspects that deserve consideration in light of recent developments concerning HIV transmission and vaccine development: vaccines directed against transmitted/founder viruses, and a reconsideration of inactivation as a viable means to obtain a preventive HIV vaccine. Since 80% of sexually transmitted HIV infections are caused by a single transmitted/founder variant, it is appropriate to target transmitted/founder viruses for vaccine development.

Complete inactivation of HIV-1 using photo-labeled non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

We demonstrate that a photo-labeled derivative of the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) dapivirine termed DAPY, when used together with exposure to ultraviolet light, was able to completely and irreversibly inactivate both HIV-1 RT activity as well as infectiousness in each of a T cell line and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Control experiments using various concentrations of DAPY revealed that a combination of exposure to ultraviolet light together with use of the specific, high affinity photo-labeled compound was necessary for complete inactivation to occur. This method of HIV RT inactivation may have applicability toward preservation of an intact viral structure and warrants further investigation in regard to the potential of this approach to elicit a durable, broad protective immune response.

HIV inactivation by cross-linking of photo-labeled anti-retroviral compounds with HIV reverse transcriptase.

We describe a new method for the development of a preventive inactivated-HIV vaccine, based on photo-inactivation of HIV reverse transcriptase (RT), which preserves both the conformational and functional integrity of viral surface proteins. The RT of HIV-1 was selectively targeted for inactivation using a photo-labeled compound with specific affinity for HIV-1 RT. The photo-labeled virions were then exposed to UV light causing the photo-labeled compound to form a covalent bond cross-linking the photo-active compound to RT.

Prevalence of Parkinson's disease and related disorders in the elderly population of greater Beijing, China.

A lower prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) has been reported for Chinese populations, but it is unclear whether this observation reflects a lower disease risk or is an artifact of case finding. We ascertained the prevalence of PD in elderly residents of an area that was a composite of 27 urban and rural communities of Greater Beijing, China. A team of university neurologists went door-to-door throughout the study area, examining 5,743 residents (at age 55 years or older) and made preliminary determinations of which residents had PD or other types of parkinsonism.