Selective escape from CD8+ T-cell responses represents a major driving force of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) sequence diversity and reveals constraints on HIV-1 evolution.

ABSTRACT: The sequence diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) represents a major obstacle to the development of an effective vaccine, yet the forces impacting the evolution of this pathogen remain unclear. To address this issue we assessed the relationship between genome-wide viral evolution and adaptive CD8+ T-cell responses in four clade B virus-infected patients studied longitudinally for as long as 5 years after acute infection. Of the 98 amino acid mutations identified in nonenvelope antigens, 53% were associated with detectable CD8+ T-cell responses, indicative of positive selective immune pressures. An additional 18% of amino acid mutations represented substitutions toward common clade B consensus sequence residues, nine of which were strongly associated with HLA class I all

SUBMITTER: Allen TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1262562 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature