Vaccine design for CD8 T lymphocyte responses

Vaccines are arguably the most powerful medical intervention in the fight against infectious diseases. The enormity of the global human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic makes the development of an AIDS vaccine a scientific and humanitarian priority. Research on vaccines that induce T-cell immunity has dominated much of the recent development effort, mostly because of disappointing efforts to induce neutralizing antibodies through vaccination. Whereas T cells are known to limit HIV and other virus infections after infection, their role in protection against initial infection is much less clear. In this article, we will review the rationale behind a T-cell-based vaccine approach, provide an overview of the methods and platforms that are being applied, and discuss the impact of recent vaccine trial results on the future direction of T-cell vaccine research.