Fundamental B-cell biology factors impacting HIV vaccine development.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To cover recent work on fundamental immunological mechanisms and strategies to elicit successful priming and boosting of B cells in HIV vaccine efforts.

RECENT FINDINGS: HIV vaccine research has reached substantial milestones in recent years, showing successful priming and early boosting of desired precursor B cells in humans - the first steps toward an effective HIV vaccine. Moreover, recent studies have started to unravel key vaccine strategies that are important for both sequential immunization and eliciting durable vaccine responses, including immunogen engineering, novel adjuvants, extended antigen dosing regimens, booster timing, and modulating antigen avidity.

SUMMARY: A successful HIV vaccine will likely require elicitation of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) and sustainment of sufficient serum bnAb titers. At the cellular level, induction of effective germinal center reactions, as well as sufficient bnAb-secreting long-lived plasma cells (LLPC) in the final boost, will likely be required.