Some of the strongest immune correlates of controlled HIV infection include markers related to antiviral T-cell responses, especially responses mediated by CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). These observations and lessons learned from other viral infections have motivated the development of T-cell vaccine candidates to HIV in the preventive and especially in the therapeutic setting. While none of the T-cell vaccine concepts tested to date have shown sufficient efficacy, the last few years have seen some advances indicating that strategies activating the cellular adaptive immune response to HIV may present a critical component of an effective therapeutic and possibly preventive HIV vaccine. Some of the important components that a successful T-cell vaccine may need to contain and additional considerations for the design and delivery of such vaccines are discussed in this chapter.
Keywords: HIV vaccine design; T-cell vaccine.