This is strongly supported by our studies in ART treatment-naive, HIV-1-infected patients in Japan, whereby both the magnitude and breadth of tHIVconsvX-specific responses induced in natural HIV-1 infection correlated directly with high CD4 T cell count and indirectly with low plasma viral load.26, 67 saRNA is now poised to accelerate the iterative process of identifying and optimizing induction of the necessary protective T cell traits controlling HIV-1 infection in human clinical trials. This evidence concerns the gene CD4 and HIV-1 infection.