| More than 70 million individuals worldwide have been infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type I (HIV-1) and over 24 million individuals have died since the beginning of the epidemic. Efforts to control disease progression associated with HIV-1 infection have led to the use of a combination of antiviral drugs, referred to as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Treatment with HAART has dramatically decreased the morbidity and mortality caused by HIV-1. HAART effectively lowers viral load and allows for a partial reconstitution of immunological function in a majority of HIV-1-infected patients. Despite the initial success of HAART in controlling HIV-1, this therapeutic approach also has limitations,which due to the serious adverse effects of the drugs, emegence of drug-resistant HIV-1 mutants and poor adherence. In addition, most people infected by HIV-1 worldwide have no access to antiretroviral treatment due to the high cost of this regimen. Thus, developing a vaccine preventing HIV-1 infection is urgently needed. Virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses are critical in the control of HIV-1 infection and will play an important part in therapeutic and prophylactic HIV-1 vaccines. The...
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