Longitudinal Analysis of CCR5 and CXCR4 Usage in a Cohort of Antiretroviral Therapy-Naive Subjects with Progressive HIV-1 Subtype C Infection.

ABSTRACT: HIV-1 subtype C (C-HIV) is responsible for most HIV-1 cases worldwide. Although the pathogenesis of C-HIV is thought to predominantly involve CCR5-restricted (R5) strains, we do not have a firm understanding of how frequently CXCR4-using (X4 and R5X4) variants emerge in subjects with progressive C-HIV infection. Nor do we completely understand the molecular determinants of coreceptor switching by C-HIV variants. Here, we characterized a panel of HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins (Envs) (n = 300) cloned sequentially from plasma of 21 antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naïve subjects who experienced progression from chronic to advanced stages of C-HIV infection, and show that CXCR4-using C-HIV variants emerged in only one individual. Mutagenesis studies and structural models suggest that the evolution

SUBMITTER: Jakobsen MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3688867 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature