PROJECT
Microbicides to Prevent Sexual Transmission of HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is most frequently acquired sexually; the virus crosses the surfaces of the genital/anal/oral tracts to enter the body and establish infection. Increasingly, research is exploring how agents called microbicides can be applied prior to or after intercourse to limit infection.

Because dendritic cells (a type of white blood cell) play a major role in the early stages of HIV infection across body surfaces, Council research on this subject explores how virus capture by and infection of dendritic cells can be limited by putative microbicides. Researchers also are testing whether microbicides can prevent the spread of virus from dendritic cells to CD4 T cells. Promising microbicide candidates are then tested in vivo.

Council research spans testing specific agents that target unique molecules on the surface of the cells or the virus that are critical for HIV infection, as well as Carraguard®-based approaches (i.e., broad-acting modes that prevent virus–cell contact, independent of the molecules involved; this research is being conducted in collaboration with Council researcher David Phillips).

Dendritic cell–virus interactions are complex and require broad-acting blocking agents to inhibit capture and infection of dendritic cells and the subsequent spread of virus to T cells. Research continues to optimize the effectiveness of blocking agents (alone and in combination) to identify novel approaches that are then tested in vivo. These in vivo studies are yielding promising proof-of-principle results for the ability of Carraguard®-based microbicides to prevent sexual transmission of HIV even in the presence of other sexually transmitted infections. New-generation microbicides (new gel formulations, vaginal rings, and agents that act rectally) also are being pursued through in vitro and in vivo testing.

---

Location

Population Council researchers

Current: Melissa Robbiani, Loreley Villamide-Herrera, Ines Frank, Jessica Kenney, Onome Akpogheneta, Federica Crostarosa, Nina Derby, Edith Jasny, Panagiotis Vagenas, Meropi Aravantinou, Rachel Singer, Vennansha Williams

Former: Gavin Morrow, Silvia Peretti, Natalia Teleshova, Susanna Trapp, Stuart Turville, Laurence Vachot, Seol-Young Han, Jennifer Jones, Todd Miller, John Santos, Andrew Shaw

Non-Council collaborators

James Blanchard (Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, Louisiana)

Agegnehu Gettie (Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, New York)

Jeffrey Lifson (SAIC/National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland)

John Moore (Weill Medical School, Cornell University, New York, New York)

Nikolaus Romani (University of Innsbruck, Austria)

Robin Shattock (St. George’s Hospital Medical School, London)

Alexandra Trkola (University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland)

Donors

Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

US National Institutes of Health

US Agency for International Development

---

---