Recombination-mediated changes in coreceptor usage confer an augmented pathogenic phenotype in a nonhuman primate model of HIV-1-induced AIDS.

ABSTRACT: Evolution of the env gene in transmitted R5-tropic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains is the most widely accepted mechanism driving coreceptor switching. In some infected individuals, however, a shift in coreceptor utilization can occur as a result of the reemergence of a cotransmitted, but rapidly controlled, X4 virus. The latter possibility was studied by dually infecting rhesus macaques with X4 and R5 chimeric simian simian/human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs) and monitoring the replication status of each virus using specific primer pairs. In one of the infected monkeys, both SHIVs were potently suppressed by week 12 postinoculation, but a burst of viremia at week 51 was accompanied by an unrelenting loss of total CD4+ T cells and the development of clinical disease.

SUBMITTER: Nishimura Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3187496 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature