GENETIC VARIABILITY IN HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUSES

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

GENETIC VARIABILITY IN HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUSES

AIDS Vaccine Research and Clinical Trials. Putney SD and Bolognesi DP, eds. New York, Marcel Dekker, p. 121-35, 1990.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/91676945
Hahn BH; Shaw GM; Dept. of Medicine, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL

Abstract: Genetic diversity is a hallmark of HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Current knowledge of HIV/SIV genetic variation and how it is generated is reviewed, including polymorphism of HIV isolates and the rapidly evolving mixture of genetic variants, genotypic variation as a result of errors in HIV reverse transcription, molecular evolution of HIV and SIV, and biological significance of HIV/SIV genetic variation. Recent molecular cloning and mapping studies, as well as nucleotide sequence analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified proviral fragments, have demonstrated the coexistence of closely related, yet distinguishable, genotypes within a single infected individual. To date, complete and partial nucleotide sequence data are available for a number of HIV-2 viruses and for several strains of SIV. Several nonhuman primate species in Africa seem to be infected naturally with evolutionarily quite different SIV strains. The exact pathophysiologic processes of HIV/SIV that lead to immunodeficiency and death are still to be determined. The impact of genetic variability on these processes also is unclear, yet has considerable practical implications. If variability allows the virus to outrun host immune responses, traditional vaccination efforts might fail. The impact of genetic and biological diversity of HIV/SIV on host immune response must be understood in order to devise rational strategies for vaccination, to develop better approaches to therapy, and to understand viral pathogenesis. (73 Refs)

Keywords: Animal Antigenic Variation/*GENETICS Cloning, Molecular Haplorhini Human HIV Infections/IMMUNOLOGY HIV-1/*GENETICS/IMMUNOLOGY HIV-2/*GENETICS/IMMUNOLOGY Polymerase Chain Reaction Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/IMMUNOLOGY SIV/GENETICS Variation (Genetics)/*GENETICS MONOGRAPH REVIEW
912130
M91C4096

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