Therapeutic vaccination of HIV-1-infected patients on HAART with a recombinant HIV-1 nef-expressing MVA: safety, immunogenicity and influence on viral load during treatment interruption.

The safety and immunogenicity of an HIV-1 nef-expressing modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) was investigated in 14 HIV-1-positive patients (CD4 >400/microl) on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Patients were vaccinated at weeks 0, 4 and 16, followed by interruption of HAART at week 18. MVA-nef was well-tolerated except for local reactions, with only mild systemic side effects reported in a few patients.

A conserved HLA B13-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitope in Nef is a dominant epitope in HLA B13-positive HIV-1-infected patients.

We report on the first HLA B13-restricted minimal cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitope RQDILDLWI (RI9, amino acids 106-114 in HIV-1 Nef). In most patients the frequency of RI9-specific CTL exceeded the number of CTL against other epitopes, indicating that RI9 is a dominant epitope in HLA B13-positive patients. Targeting this conserved Nef epitope may be an important factor for the published association of HLA B13 with a favourable course of HIV-1 infection.