Fierce Selection and Interference in B-Cell Repertoire Response to Chronic HIV-1.

ABSTRACT: During chronic infection, HIV-1 engages in a rapid coevolutionary arms race with the host's adaptive immune system. While it is clear that HIV exerts strong selection on the adaptive immune system, the characteristics of the somatic evolution that shape the immune response are still unknown. Traditional population genetics methods fail to distinguish chronic immune response from healthy repertoire evolution. Here, we infer the evolutionary modes of B-cell repertoires and identify complex dynamics with a constant production of better B-cell receptor (BCR) mutants that compete, maintaining large clonal diversity and potentially slowing down adaptation. A substantial fraction of mutations that rise to high frequencies in pathogen-engaging CDRs of BCRs are beneficial, in contrast to many such

SUBMITTER: Nourmohammad A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6759071 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature