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Summary The safety of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)–based genome editing in the context of human gene therapy is largely unknown. CCR5 is a reasonable but not a...

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) have demonstrated a protective role from experimental challenge in non-human primates and humanized mouse models. Recently, bNAbs 3BNC117 and VRC01were assessed in a phase-I clinical trial, and were shown to lower plasma viremia in human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-1-infected individuals not receiving antiretroviral therapy. However, induction of these types of antibodies by vaccination iS extremely difficult. Moreover, the 31% protection observed in the RV144 vaccine trial in the absence of detectable bNAbs in blood samples suggested the important role of additional inhibitory functions of the antibodies that control infection and replication of HIV. Increasing evidence suggests that immunoglobulin-G Fcγ receptor-mediated inhibition of antibodies present at the mucosal site may have a protective role against mucosal transmission of HIV. Dendritic cells and macrophages express such Fc receptors on their surface, and may have a decisive role in early mucosal transmission because they have been proposed to be the first HIV target at the mucosal site. Therefore, new vaccination strategies involving induction of such non-neutralizing inhibitory antibodies and other antiviral functions, in addition to bNAbs, should be developed.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1(HIV-1)-specific CD8 cytotoxic T-lymphocytes(CTL)are essential components of the protective immunity against HIV-1infection.However,due to heterogeneous responses of CTL to HIV-1,our general understanding of CTL efficacy in the context of HIV-1infection remains limited. To better understand the factors that determine the potency of HIV-1specific CTL responses, this study directly investigated the relationship between different functional attributes associated with CTL response at the single cell level by using HIV-1specific CTL clones isolated in vitro. Twelve selected HIV-1CTL clones with various HLA restriction and specific antigen epitopes were comprehensively evaluated by several functional assays(e.g., killing capacity, degranulation, production of multiple cytokines and polyfunctionality, as well as the expression of lytic granule components and exhaustion molecules).Our principal findings were that the killing capacity of the CTL response was most closely associated with their degranulation capacity. Additionally, the killing and the degranulation capacity of CTL was associated with the levels and polyfunctionality of the cytokines secreted later. These findings implicate that multiple functional CTL responses are coordinately regulated and determined.

We conducted a prospective cohort study among HIV-negative MSM aged 18 years or older between 2007 and 2012 in Beijing, China to measure the rates of incident HIV and identify risk factors for infection. Among 5,800 participants evaluated at enrollment, we identified 486 prevalent cases of HIV (8.4%). Among the 3,625 enrollees who were HIV-negative at enrollment and completed at least one follow-up interview, we identified 440 incident cases of HIV in the follow up period: this constituted an HIV incidence rate of 7.1 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 6.4–7.7). Early treatment of syphilis may have significantly reduced risk of HIV infection (RR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.11–1.93), while MSM presenting perfect compliance in the cohort did not show reduction in HIV infection. Our study suggested that HIV incidence has been remained high in this sample of Chinese MSM during the intensive preventive intervention, suggesting that we need to find new strategies to prevent HIV infection in this population.

SUMMARYHepatitis G virus or GB virus C (GBV-C) is a human virus of the Flaviviridae family that is structurally and epidemiologically closest to hepatitis C virus, but replicates primarily in lymphocytes. Co-infection with GBV-C has been reported to confer beneficial outcomes in some HIV-positive patients. Up to now, however, studies on GBV-C infection in the central nervous system (CNS) of HIV-infected patient have rarely been reported. Herein, we report on a 32-year-old HIV-1-infected patient with cerebral toxoplasmosis and fungal encephalitis. GBV-C viral loads were detected in CSF by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR), and the results showed that GBV-C viral load was 6·5 log copies/ml. We amplified and sequenced the E2 and 5′-untranslated regions from the purified viral RNA from CSF by RT–PCR. Both sequences belong to genotype 3 and there were some minor nucleotide divergence among the E2 sequences from the CSF of the patient. These data suggest that GBV-C may be able to penetrate the blood–brain barrier and colonize the CNS of HIV-infected patients. However, the exact mechanisms and potential effect of the infected GBV-C in CNS on HIV-associated neuropathy needs to be further explored.

Background: The detection of acute HIV infection (AHI) among high risk populations can help reduce secondary transmission of HIV. The nucleic acid testing (NAT) can shorten the test window period by up to 7-12 days. In this study, we describe an in-house NAT based on the multiplex nested RT-PCR method to detect the HIV RNA. We also evaluated it in a high risk cohort in Beijing. Methods: Four primer pairs were designed and evaluated for the detection of different HIV-1 subtypes in group M. Multiplex RT-PCR and nested PCR were performed. The sensitivity, specialty, primers compatibility among HIV subtypes were evaluated simultaneously. In an MSM cohort in Beijing during a 3-year period, a total of 11,808 blood samples that were negative by ELISA or indeterminate by Western blot were analyzed by this multiplex nested RT-PCR with pooling strategy. Results: The multiplex nested RT-PCR was successfully applied for the detection of at least six HIV-1 subtypes. The sensitivity was 40 copies/ml and the specificity was 100%. A total of 29 people were tested HIV-1 positive with acute infection in a MSM cohort of Beijing during a 3 years period. Conclusion: This multiplex nested RT-PCR provides a useful tool for the rapid detection of acute HIV-1 infection. When used in combination with the 3 rd generation ELISA, it can improve the detection rate of HIV infection, especially in the source limited regions.

Exhaustion of virus-specific T cells may play an important role in the pathophysiology of chronic viral infections. Here, we analyzed telomere length and telomerase activity in HIV-1–specific CD8+ T cells from progressors or controllers to determine underlying molecular pathways of T-cell exhaustion and senescence. Telomere lengths of HIV-1–specific CD8+ T cells from progressors were significantly shorter compared with autologous cytomegalovirus (CMV)/Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)–specific CD8+ T cells or bulk CD8+ T cells, while telomere lengths from controllers significantly exceeded those of autologous bulk CD8+ T cells and reached a similar level as HIV-1–specific CD8+ T cells collected during primary HIV-1 infection. Telomere length stabilization in controllers corresponded to high levels of constitutive telomerase activity, which was associated with preservation of cytotoxic and proliferative properties. Conversely, limited constitutive telomerase activity was observed in HIV-1–specific CD8+ T cells from progressors, although an increase in both telomere length and telomerase activity was achieved in antigenic-peptide–stimulated cells from progressors after blocking the PD-1/PD ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway. Collectively, these data suggest a causal role of telomere shortening for the functional deficiencies of HIV-1–specific CD8+ T cells in chronic progressive infection, while high constitutive telomerase activities appears to contribute to maintenance of polyfunctional HIV-1–specific CD8+ T cells from HIV-1 controllers.