Adaptation of CD4 in gorillas and chimpanzees conveyed resistance to simian immunodeficiency viruses.

ABSTRACT: Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) comprise a large group of primate lentiviruses that endemically infect African monkeys. HIV-1 spilled over to humans from this viral reservoir, but the spillover did not occur directly from monkeys to humans. Instead, a key event was the introduction of SIVs into great apes, which then set the stage for infection of humans. Here, we investigate the role of the lentiviral entry receptor, CD4, in this key and fateful event in the history of SIV/HIV emergence. First, we reconstructed and tested ancient forms of CD4 at two important nodes in ape speciation, both prior to the infection of chimpanzees and gorillas with these viruses. These ancestral CD4s fully supported entry of diverse SIV isolates related to the viruses that made this initial jump to apes

SUBMITTER: Warren CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12077880 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature