Suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 inhibition strategy to enhance anti-HIV vaccination

Abstract

Extensive efforts aimed at stimulating immune responses by modifying HIV antigens and using various delivery systems and adjuvants have so far failed to generate promising HIV vaccines, highlighting the urgent need to explore alternative immunization approaches. Antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells, play a critical role in the initiation and maintenance of immune responses against HIV infection and dendritic cells are regulated by stimulatory, as well as inhibitory signaling. Recent studies demonstrate that the suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) functions as an antigen-presentation attenuator by restricting the Janus-activated kinase–signal transducers and activators of transcription and Toll-like receptor-signaling pathways. SOCS1-silenced dendritic cells produce higher levels of both T-helper 1- and 2-polarizing cytokines, broadly enhance memory HIV-specific B-cell and T-cell responses and activate natural killer cells owing to unbridled cytokine feedback signaling loops. Therefore, the inhibition of antigen-presentation attenuators represents a generally applicable and alternative strategy for enhancing the potency of various forms of prophylactic and therapeutic HIV vaccines.