Induction of anti-HIV-1 immune responses by retroviral vectors.

Retroviral vectors encoding HIV-1 proteins, in particular, the envelope from HIV-1 IIIB, have been constructed and used to generate infectious vector particles. Murine cells transduced with these vectors express HIV proteins. Vector-transduced cells, when injected into syngeneic BALB/c mice, induce potent CD8+, class I MHC-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses and elicit the production of neutralizing antibody specific for HIV-1. The induction of similar responses in primates may provide the basis for considering the use of these vectors as immunostimulants in humans. The retroviral vectors or vector-transduced cells would probably be first employed as an immunotherapeutic for HIV-infected individuals.