11.1.4 Gene Therapy Based Immunotherapy

It was shown that immune response to HIV is initiated soon after infection.  Therefore, gene therapy was developed based on stimulating the immune response against HIV by directly injecting a modified retrovirus expressing the HIV proteins env (envelope) and rev (a regulatory viral protein) into HIV- infected patients.  The increase of the amounts of such env and rev proteins will raise the immune response of the individuals who are infected (Rock et al 1994).  Clinical trials were carried out (Yu, et al 1994).  It remains to be seen whether this will benefit the patient.  One criticism of this approach is the high mutation rates of the virus, that some mutants could escape immune response.