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Although there have been many books on HIV and AIDS, surprisingly little has been published that focuses on the immunology of retroviral infections in general, and HIV in particular. Retroviral Immunology: Immune Response and Restoration is the first book of its kind to address the most important aspects of the immunology of retroviruses, including not only the virus-specific immune responses, but also genetic and virologic factors modulating these responses. The book also deals directly with the emerging concept of immune restora tion in retroviral infections, a particularly important subject to the thousands of clinicians who deal with this problem on a daily basis. With the advent of highly effective antiviral drug regimens to slow down the replication of HIV and the progression of AIDS, new challenges and opportunities are arising. Restoration of general immune function has brought with it not only complica tions of immune restoration-mediated disease, but also the realistic hope for meaningful restoration of the ability to control HIV replication with the immune system. Leading scientists in the field have summarized the most current informa tion regarding experimental and clinical aspects of retroviral infections. Retroviral Immunology: Immune Response and Restoration should prove an impor tant point of reference for basic scientists and clinicians in this area of research. We are indebted to all of our authors for their excellent contributions.
List of contents
1 Epidemiological and Immunological Implications of the Global Variability of HIV-1.- 2 Role of Chemokines and Their Receptors in the Pathogenesis of HIV Infection.- 3 Cytokines and Chemokines in HIV Infection.- 4 Development and Reconstitution of T-Lymphoid Immunity.- 5 HIV Gene Products as Manipulators of the Immune System.- 6 Immune Response to Murine and Feline Retroviruses.- 7 Immune Response to HTLV-I and HTLV-II.- 8 HIV-Specific Neutralizing Antibodies.- 9 Cytotoxic T-Cell Responses in Acute and Chronic HIV-1 Infection.- 10 Characterization of the HIV-1-Specific T-Helper Cell Response.- 11 Immune Responses to Nonhuman Primate Lentiviruses.- 12 Intrahost Selective Pressure and HIV-1 Heterogeneity During Progression to AIDS.- 13 Polymorphism in HLA and Other Elements of the Class I and II Response Pathways.- 14 Immunologic Approaches to the Therapy of Patients with HIV Infection.
About the author
Dr. Walker is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for AIDS Research at Harvard University; Director of the Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital; and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. He obtained his undergraduate training at the University of Colorado and the Swiss Federal Technical Institute, and graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Following an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in infectious diseases in the laboratory of Dr. Robert T. Schooley, studying the cellular immune response to HIV in infected persons. He now spends the majority of his time in the laboratory studying immune responses in chronic viral infections. His basic science research focuses on cellular immune responses to HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Dr. Walker also continues his work as a clinician with a specialty is infectious disease, focusing on the treatment of persons with HIV/AIDS. In addition, he has been involved in collaborative research in Africa at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, where he helped to establish a state of the art AIDS Research Center to serve sub-Saharan Africa.
Summary
Although there have been many books on HIV and AIDS, surprisingly little has been published that focuses on the immunology of retroviral infections in general, and HIV in particular. Retroviral Immunology: Immune Response and Restoration is the first book of its kind to address the most important aspects of the immunology of retroviruses, including not only the virus-specific immune responses, but also genetic and virologic factors modulating these responses. The book also deals directly with the emerging concept of immune restora tion in retroviral infections, a particularly important subject to the thousands of clinicians who deal with this problem on a daily basis. With the advent of highly effective antiviral drug regimens to slow down the replication of HIV and the progression of AIDS, new challenges and opportunities are arising. Restoration of general immune function has brought with it not only complica tions of immune restoration-mediated disease, but also the realistic hope for meaningful restoration of the ability to control HIV replication with the immune system. Leading scientists in the field have summarized the most current informa tion regarding experimental and clinical aspects of retroviral infections. Retroviral Immunology: Immune Response and Restoration should prove an impor tant point of reference for basic scientists and clinicians in this area of research. We are indebted to all of our authors for their excellent contributions.
