SieveSifter: a web-based tool for visualizing the sieve analyses of HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trials

Bioinformatics. 2017 Aug 1;33(15):2386-2388. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btx168.

Abstract

Summary: Analysis of HIV-1 virions from participants infected in a randomized controlled preventive HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trial can help elucidate mechanisms of partial protection. By comparing the genetic sequence of viruses from vaccine and placebo recipients to the sequence of the vaccine itself, a technique called 'sieve analysis', one can identify functional specificities of vaccine-induced immune responses. We have created an interactive web-based visualization and data access tool for exploring the results of sieve analyses performed on four major preventive HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trials: (i) the HIV Vaccine Trial Network (HVTN) 502/Step trial, (ii) the RV144/Thai trial, (iii) the HVTN 503/Phambili trial and (iv) the HVTN 505 trial. The tool acts simultaneously as a platform for rapid reinterpretation of sieve effects and as a portal for organizing and sharing the viral sequence data. Access to these valuable datasets also enables the development of novel methodology for future sieve analyses.

Availability and implementation: Visualization: http://sieve.fredhutch.org/viz . Source code: https://github.com/nkullman/SIEVE . Data API: http://sieve.fredhutch.org/data .

Contact: agartlan@fredhutch.org.

MeSH terms

  • AIDS Vaccines / immunology
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • HIV Infections / immunology*
  • HIV Infections / prevention & control
  • HIV Infections / virology
  • HIV-1 / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Internet
  • Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic*
  • Software*

Substances

  • AIDS Vaccines