AEGiS-4IAC: [PL19] A VIROLOGIST'S VIEW OF HIV'S SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

4th International AIDS Conference

Stockholm, Sweden. — June 12-16, 1988

[TITLE:] A VIROLOGIST'S VIEW OF HIV'S SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

Int Conf AIDS. 1988 Jun 12-16;4:1.110 (abstract no. PL19)

David Baltimore, Sunyoung Kim, Patrick Baeuerle, Mark Muesing, Mark Feinberg
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, USA

HIV is a different retrovirus from most others but being an enveloped RNA virus, it has many properties in common with other related viruses. Comparing its traits to those of other viruses we see that many are not so special. For instance, a variety of RNA viruses vary in sequence extensively from isolate to isolate. Also, viruses gene-rally have a stable mode of transmission -- HIV being sexually parenterally and perinatally transmitted is likely to remain so. The special characteristics of the virus are its lethality, its complex genome structure, its internal regulatory cycles and its regulation by the host cell. These may all be related phenomena and thus are the focus of much attention. By studying the life cycle of HIV, we are trying to define its special properties. We have found a single, critical cellular transcriptional regulatory protein, NF-ocB, that appears important for allowing HIV transcription. We have determined conditions that allow for synchronous, high multiplicity infection of sensitive cells and are characterizing the earliest DNA and RNA species made in the cells.

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PL19