HIV-1 HIVACAT T-cell Immunogen (HTI) antigenic regions (HTI)

The HIV-1 HIVACAT T-cell Immunogen (HTI) is a synthetic sequence comprising 16 highly conserved regions within the HIV-1 Gag, Pol, Vif, and Nef proteins (Mothe et al., 2015). These specific regions were selected based on their frequent targeting by T-cells in HIV controllers, individuals who naturally maintain low viral loads without antiretroviral therapy. The HTI design aims to focus the immune system on viral segments where mutations typically result in a significant loss of viral fitness, thereby limiting the virus's ability to escape immune pressure (Bailon et al., 2022). Therapeutic vaccines incorporating the HTI sequence, such as those using MVA or ChAdOx1 vectors, are being evaluated for their ability to induce polyfunctional T-cell responses. The ultimate goal of targeting these antigenic regions is to achieve a functional cure, allowing patients to remain off antiretroviral therapy while maintaining suppressed viral levels. Clinical trials have demonstrated that HTI-based vaccines are safe and can shift the breadth of T-cell responses toward the conserved regions included in the immunogen (AELIX Therapeutics, 2024).

Other names

HIVACAT T-cell ImmunogenHTI immunogenHIV-1 conserved T-cell epitopesHTI sequence

Induction of polyfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses against conserved HIV-1 regions to control viral replication.