PTAP motif duplication in the p6 Gag protein confers a replication advantage on HIV-1 subtype C.

ABSTRACT: HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C) may duplicate longer amino acid stretches in the p6 Gag protein, leading to the creation of an additional Pro-Thr/Ser-Ala-Pro (PTAP) motif necessary for viral packaging. However, the biological significance of a duplication of the PTAP motif for HIV-1 replication and pathogenesis has not been experimentally validated. In a longitudinal study of two different clinical cohorts of select HIV-1 seropositive, drug-naive individuals from India, we found that 8 of 50 of these individuals harbored a mixed infection of viral strains discordant for the PTAP duplication. Conventional and next-generation sequencing of six primary viral quasispecies at multiple time points disclosed that in a mixed infection, the viral strains containing the PTAP duplication dominated the infec

SUBMITTER: Sharma S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6066301 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature