Neutralizing antibody responses drive the evolution of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope during recent HIV infection.

ABSTRACT: HIV type 1 (HIV-1) can rapidly escape from neutralizing antibody responses. The genetic basis of this escape in vivo is poorly understood. We compared the pattern of evolution of the HIV-1 env gene between individuals with recent HIV infection whose virus exhibited either a low or a high rate of escape from neutralizing antibody responses. We demonstrate that the rate of viral escape at a phenotypic level is highly variable among individuals, and is strongly correlated with the rate of amino acid substitutions. We show that dramatic escape from neutralizing antibodies can occur in the relative absence of changes in glycosylation or insertions and deletions ("indels") in the envelope; conversely, changes in glycosylation and indels occur even in the absence of neutralizing antibody response

SUBMITTER: Frost SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1310509 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature