Oral Abstract Session 01 - Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise

Plenary 02: A New Look at the Transmission Event
PL02.01
Barriers to Mucosal Transmission: Challenges and
Opportunities
J.D. Estes 1
1SAIC-Frederick, Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick, MD,
USA
During HIV-1 mucosal transmission, the viral diversity of the
infecting virus is dramatically reduced as the virus transverses the
various host barriers in order to establish a new infection. While
the stringency of the mucosal blockade is now well documented,
there is a paucity of understanding on where the bottleneck
occurs including the contributions of various host components in
determining the nature of transmitted founder viruses. A detailed
understanding of the process of lentiviral transmission will likely
be critical to guide the design of efficacious vaccine approaches
that capitalize on opportunities to interdict productive infection
of the host. This talk will discuss the development of new tools
that can be used to elucidate the biological and immunological
barriers surrounding mucosal transmission, the timing and
process of establishment of infection, and progression to
systemic infection. Using nonhuman primate models of mucosal
transmission allows for extensive tissue analyses to define the
early stages and host responses involved in the establishment and
spread of virus in the first days following mucosal inoculation, and
to determine the tissues, cells and pathways that are involved in
transmission through systemic dissemination in order to better
guide the development of preventative strategies.
PL02.02
Plenary Sesions
Viral Dynamics and Immune Response in Acute
Infection and Their Impact on Viral Set-Point
M. Robb 1
1 Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, MD, USA
Understanding early viral and immune events during acute
HIV infection is critical to inform prevention and treatment
efforts. We characterized plasma viral load, peripheral blood
mononuclear cell populations and cytokine/chemokine profiles
at baseline and during early stages of acute infections from East
Africa and Thailand in the prospective RV217 high-risk cohort.
Individuals at high risk for HIV-1 were prospectively followed
with twice weekly small blood volumes collected and tested for
HIV-1 RNA (NAT) to detect acute infection prior to the advent
of antibody. The relationship of events observed prior to and at
peak viremia will be discussed in relation to the determination of
viral load set-point and immune activation.
AIDS Vaccine 2012
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PLENARY SESSIONS