Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
GENETIC VARIABILITY OF THE HUMAN AND SIMIAN AIDS VIRUSES
Vaccines 87. Modern Approaches to New Vaccines: Prevention of AIDS and Other Viral, Bacterial, and Parasitic Diseases. Chanock RM et al, eds. New York, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, p. 146-53, 1987.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/88647969 Alizon M; Sonigo P; Wain-Hobson S; Unite de Oncologie Virale, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Abstract:
An increasing and diverse number of retroviruses are associated with immunodeficiency syndromes. There are three lentiviruses, the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1 and HIV-2) and the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) of rhesus monkeys. In addition, the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (MPMV)-related D-type retroviruses are the most important of the simian acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) viruses in terms of frequency of infection. HIV-1, the most widespread of the two human lentiviruses, is found in the United States and South America, as well as in Central Africa, from where it is considered to have originated. From the first wave of HIV-1 sequence data, it was clear that the virus was genetically highly variable, a conclusion supported by the recognition of the fact that the virus is a lentivirus. Two molecular clones of HIV isolated from Zairian patients were cloned and completely sequenced. The precise genetic structure of these viruses is that of the original HIV strain, ie, 5'-gag-pol-Q-R-tat-env/art-F-3'. The good conservation of the open reading frame R overlapping Q and tat strongly suggests that it probably encodes a gene. The authors have combined data of their own and those of Starcich et al and Willey et al, who have reported the partial sequencing of four more isolates, notably of their envelope proteins. Thus, with eight env sequences, amino acid sequence variability of the HIV envelope protein is even more obvious. The extracellular glycoprotein is by far the more variable of the two mature envelope glycoproteins (up to 25%). The sequence variability within the extracellular glycoproteins is not uniform; rather, it is organized into conserved and hypervariable regions. Among captive rhesus monkeys in the United States, the current simian AIDS epidemic correlates well with a seropositivity for a simian D-type virus. There are only two SIV isolates that can induce AIDS in inoculated rhesus monkeys: simian retrovirus types 1 and 2 (SRV-1 and SRV-2) and D/New England are akin to, although serologically distinct from, the original MPMV isolate. Considerable sequence data are now available for these viruses, and a comparison of the MPMV and SRV-1 proteins is presented. The retrovirus genome is highly plastic not only in its ability to recombine with the cellular genome or to carry additional genes (ie, apart from gag, pol, and env), but also in its capacity to undergo considerable genetic variation. (23 Refs)
Keywords: Amino Acid Sequence Animal Cloning, Molecular DNA, Viral/*GENETICS Human HIV/*GENETICS Macaca mulatta Molecular Sequence Data Retroviridae Proteins/GENETICS *Variation (Genetics) Viral Envelope Proteins/GENETICS MEETING PAPER
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
