The genotype of early-transmitting HIV gp120s promotes α (4) β(7)-reactivity, revealing α (4) β(7) +/CD4+ T cells as key targets in mucosal transmission.

ABSTRACT: Mucosal transmission of HIV is inefficient. The virus must breach physical barriers before it infects mucosal CD4+ T cells. Low-level viral replication occurs initially in mucosal CD4+ T cells, but within days high-level replication occurs in Peyer's patches, the gut lamina propria and mesenteric lymph nodes. Understanding the early events in HIV transmission may provide valuable information relevant to the development of an HIV vaccine. The viral quasispecies in a donor contracts through a genetic bottleneck in the recipient, such that, in low-risk settings, infection is frequently established by a single founder virus. Early-transmitting viruses in subtypes A and C mucosal transmission tend to encode gp120s with reduced numbers of N-linked glycosylation sites at specific positions throug

SUBMITTER: Nawaz F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3044691 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature