Main description:

A successful vaccine for the prevention and/or immunotherapy against HIV/AIDS is one of the prominent challenges of the 21st century. To date, all human vaccine trials against this virus/disease have resulted in failure, or at best have shown very low efficacy. The scientific community dealing with HIV/AIDS has unanimously proposed a focus on basic science, with the intention of identifying correlates of protection that can serve as guides in developing and evaluating vaccine preparation. However, Nature seems to have already found several ways of dealing with infections by HIV and related primate lentiviruses, either by resisting infection or, once infected, avoiding immune damage and immunodeficiency.

Models of Protection Against HIV/SIV will allow for an in-depth reflection on the perspectives for vaccine and therapy research derived from important recent studies. It will be authored by some of the most well known specialists in the field of HIV resistance/protection: including F. Barre-Sinoussi (2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine winner), B. Walker, S. Rowland-Jones, A. Telenti, M. Lederman and F. Plummer.

This book is structured in a unique way, looking at three models of resistance/protection separately and then comparing the models against one another to provide its readership with a detailed examination of the research that is most predominant in the search for a vaccine. This structure presents the information in an easy-to-understand format and gives the book a cross-discipline appeal -- an important reference for those in the scientific community, medical care, public health and academia alike.

Contents:

Simian models of non-pathogenic SIV infection

Natural SIV infection: virological aspects
Natural SIV infection: immunological aspects
Prevention
Implications for therapy

HIV-1-exposed seronegative individuals

Are some people protected against HIV infection?
The genital mucosa, the front lines in the defense against HIV
Host genetics and resistance to HIV-1 infection
The immune system and resisting HIV infection

HIV-1-controllers

Definition, natural history and heterogeneity of HIV-controllers
Residual viremia and viral reservoirs in elite controllers
Immune responses associated to viral control
Immune mechanisms of viral control in HIV-2 infection

Genetic basis of protection against HIV

Genetic associations with resistance to HIV-1 infection, viral control and protection against disease

Conclusions