Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
ETIOLOGY OF AIDS: VIROLOGY, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUSES
AIDS: Etiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention. Second Edition. DeVita VT Jr et al, eds. Philadelphia, Lippincott, p. 11-31, 1988.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/89650898 Shaw GM; Wong-Staal F; Gallo RC; Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
Abstract:
Remarkable progress has been made since the first description of AIDS in 1981 in elucidating the causative agent, defining its biologic and genetic properties, and understanding its evolutionary relationship to other retroviruses. This chapter describes progress and emerging directions of the basic research likely to be important in developing a better understanding of HIV disease and effective treatment and preventive measures. Topics discussed include the history of human retrovirology, discovery of the AIDS virus, overview of HIV-1 biology, molecular structure and function of HIV-1, characteristics of HIV-2, and evolution of human immunodeficiency viruses. HIV-1 utilizes complex strategies for regulating viral expression. These operate at the level of transcription, mRNA processing, protein synthesis, and virus maturation. Because the R and 3' orf genes are highly conserved in evolutionarily divergent viruses, they may be important in the biology of HIV in vivo, although their specific functions are currently unknown. One of the most striking properties of the HIV-1 genome is the extent of variability that exists among independent virus isolates. The genome of HIV-1 is highly plastic in relation to such important functions as cell tropism, virulence, and antigenicity. The observation that HIV-1 'isolates' generally consist of complex mixtures of genotypically distinct viruses supports the general concept of RNA viruses as 'quasi-species.' A T-lymphotropic human virus (HN-2), related to the Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), has been identified in studies of West African populations. There are reports that the HIV-2 group of viruses, although clearly a causative agent of some cases of fatal immunodeficiency, may be less pathogenic in some populations than HIV-1. There is, however, an increasing number of reports identifying HIV-2 viruses as the cause of fatal immunodeficiency in West Africa and other countries. Because HIV-2 and simian immunodeficiency virus (mac) are nearly equally divergent from HIV-1 and more similar to each other in genomic organization, HIV-2 and SIV (mac) may have evolved from a common ancestor, which in turn had common origins with HIV-1. (156 Refs)
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/GENETICS/*MICROBIOLOGY Amino Acid Sequence Cloning, Molecular Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral DNA Restriction Enzymes/GENETICS Gene Expression Regulation Genes, Viral Human HIV Antigens/GENETICS HIV-1/*GENETICS HIV-2/*GENETICS Molecular Sequence Data Receptors, Virus/GENETICS Retroviridae Proteins/GENETICS RNA, Messenger/GENETICS Viral Envelope Proteins/GENETICS Virus Replication MONOGRAPH REVIEW REVIEW, TUTORIAL
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
