HIV preventive vaccines
Description
The HIV preventive vaccines group was founded in 2002 at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, when Dr Joan Joseph joined the existing AIDS Research Group, led by Dr Josep Mª Gatell. The experience of Dr Joseph in the use of BCG as a vaccine vector was the basis of the research group. Presently, there are two main ongoing research lines:
- Development of a pediatric HIV-TB dual vaccine based on recombinant mycobacteria. In this project, the only licensed TB vaccine currently available, Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is used as a vaccine vector to express different HIV immunogens. Properties of BCG make recombinant BCG:HIV vaccines ideal to be delivered to newborn infants for prevention of early HIV infection. Currently, this vaccine vector is one of the vectors included in the EAVI2020 European AIDS Vaccine Consortium. (Horizon 2020 grant agreement No. 681137).
We are also developing an HIV-TB dual vaccine based in an attenuated M. tuberculosis strain (MTBVAC). Were using this strain to express HIV immunogens. (FIS grant PI14/00494). - Development of a preventive HIV vaccine based on HPV-HIV chimeric VLPs. Another research line focuses on the development of a preventive HIV vaccine based on the HPV VLP vaccine. The present HPV preventive vaccines use VLPs formed by HPV L1 protein. In our project, weve constructed a chimeric L1 protein containing an HIV-1 T-cell epitope, with the aim of the resulting VLP eliciting specific immune responses against both HPV and HIV.