A signature in HIV-1 envelope leader peptide associated with transition from acute to chronic infection impacts envelope processing and infectivity.

ABSTRACT: Mucosal transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) results in a bottleneck in viral genetic diversity. Gnanakaran and colleagues used a computational strategy to identify signature amino acids at particular positions in Envelope that were associated either with transmitted sequences sampled very early in infection, or sequences sampled during chronic infection. Among the strongest signatures observed was an enrichment for the stable presence of histidine at position 12 at transmission and in early infection, and a recurrent loss of histidine at position 12 in chronic infection. This amino acid lies within the leader peptide of Envelope, a region of the protein that has been shown to influence envelope glycoprotein expression and virion infectivity. We show a strong association

SUBMITTER: Asmal M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3158090 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature