Prediction and Testing of Antigenic Sites of the Aids Virus HTLV-III, Recognized by T-Lymphocytes for the Development of Possible Synthetic Vaccine

Abstract : Whether the immune protective mechanisms against AIDS involve antibodies or cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) or both, helper T cells will be necessary to induce either type of response. Also, it is likely that CTL will be essential to control infection by destroying infected monocytes and macrophages which provide a reservoir of virus and from which virus can spread from cell to cell without ever being freely extracellular where it would be accessible to antibody. For these reasons, T-cell immunity of both the helper and cytotoxic types will be essential goals of any vaccine strategy. Whole virus and subunits prepared from virus may be too dangerous to use as vaccine candidates. Much work has focused on recombinant forms of the envelope protein. However, the whole envelope protein has certain disadvantages even when made by recombinant DNA technology.