Transcriptomic profiling of RV144 trial participants after vaccination with ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX B/E. [rv144]

The RV144 clinical trial evaluated the efficacy of a vaccine regimen that included ALVAC-HIV prime and AIDSVAX boost in preventing HIV-1 acquisition. The vaccine reduced the risk of HIV-1 acquisition by 31.2%; however the mechanisms that led to the protection induced by this vaccine remain poorly understood. Our objectives were to identify transcriptional correlates and mechanisms that could explain the reduced acquisition conferred by the vaccine. We assessed the transcriptomic profile of HIV Env stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from 223 participants two weeks after vaccination and from 40 placebo recipients. One hundred and eighty-three (183) participants of the RV144 clinical trial were primed twice with ALVAC-HIV (at week 0 and week 4) and boosted twice with AIDSVAX B/E in alum adjuvant (at week 12 and week 24). An additional thirty (30) participants of the RV144 clinical trial received placebo at the same immunization timepoints (at week 0, week 4, week 12 and week 24). Blood samples were taken 2 weeks after the last immunization boost (week 26). Forty-eight (48) participants acquired HIV-1 during the follow-up and 165 participants remained HIV-1 negative at last follow-up (up to 3 years after vaccination). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from those 213 participants was stimulated in vitro for 15 hours with Env peptides or with the vehicle (DMSO). RNA was then extracted and hybridized to Illumina beadchips.