How can Improve DNA Vaccine Modalities as a Therapeutic Approach against HIV Infections?

Abstract

The recent studies have focused on the improvement of effective prophylactic and therapeutic approaches to combat persistent viral infections. Several therapeutic vaccine strategies have already used such as live-attenuated microbes, viral vectors and dendritic cell-based vaccines led to suppress and/or clear infections. Among them, improved DNA vaccines have emerged as a promising candidate for treatment of infectious diseases especially HIV infections. These vaccines have the advantages of safety, low cost of production, ease of use due to their stability in room temperature as well as ability to elicit efficient immune responses. Some strategies have been considered to improve immune responses stimulated by DNA vaccines, e.g., genetic optimization of plasmid DNA constructs encoding antigens, in vivo efficient DNA delivery systems, co-delivery with molecular adjuvants as well as the development of potent heterologous prime-boost regimens. DNA vaccines have an intrinsic bias towards generating cellular immunity against intracellular pathogens. By manipulating the DNA formulation and delivery, effective antibody responses can be also induced. For instance, the studies showed that the immunized monkeys with DNA vaccine developed HIVspecific T-cell immune responses that persisted for months. It is important to develop the potency of this modality in the clinic. In this review, the authors will focus on the recent improvements to enhance DNA vaccine potency in combating persistent HIV virus infections