High frequency of HIV mutations associated with HLA-C suggests enhanced HLA-C-restricted CTL selective pressure associated with an AIDS-protective polymorphism.

ABSTRACT: Delayed HIV-1 disease progression is associated with a single nucleotide polymorphism upstream of the HLA-C gene that correlates with differential expression of the HLA-C Ag. This polymorphism was recently shown to be a marker for a protective variant in the 3'UTR of HLA-C that disrupts a microRNA binding site, resulting in enhanced HLA-C expression at the cell surface. Whether individuals with "high" HLA-C expression show a stronger HLA-C-restricted immune response exerting better viral control than that of their counterparts has not been established. We hypothesized that the magnitude of the HLA-C-restricted immune pressure on HIV would be greater in subjects with highly expressed HLA-C alleles. Using a cohort derived from a unique narrow source epidemic in China, we identified mutations

SUBMITTER: Blais ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3378658 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature