Long-lived memory immune response to HIV antigens elicited by MVA-C.

<p>A) Magnitude of vaccine-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. The HIV-1-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells were measured 53 days after the last immunization by ICS assay following stimulation with the different HIV-1 peptide pools. The values represent the sum of the percentages of T cells secreting IFN-γ and/or TNF-α and/or IL-2 against Env+Gag+GPN peptide pools. All data are background subtracted. B) Functional profile of memory HIV-1-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell responses. All the possible combinations of the responses are shown on the <i>x</i> axis, whereas the percentage of the functionally distinct cell populations within the total CD4 or CD8 T cell populations are shown on the <i>y</i> axis. Responses are grouped and colour-coded on the basis of the number of functions. The non-specific responses obtained in the control group DNA-Φ/MVA-WT were subtracted in all populations. C) Phenotypic profile of memory HIV-1-specific CD4 or CD8 T cells. Representative FACS plots showing the percentage of Env-specific CD4 or CD8 T cells with central memory (TCM, CD44^highCD62L⁺) or effector memory (TEM, CD44^highCD62L⁻) phenotype. * p<0.05; ** p<0.005. p-values indicate significantly higher responses compared to DNA-Φ/MVA-WT immunization group.