8th International AIDS Conference Amsterdam, Netherlands — July 19-24, 1992

Int Conf AIDS 1992 Jul 19-24; 8:We49 (abstract no. WeC 1022)
Korber BT, Myers G; Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M. 87505.

OBJECTIVE: To go beyond simple nucleotide or amino acid distance relationships (percent similarities) as the basis for tracking HIV relatedness, it is desirable to objectively establish amino acid signature patterns, or "HIV fingerprints."

METHODS: HIV amino acid sequences, i.e., sibling sequences, from a given infected individual are compared to a large reference set of HIV sequences to determine the positions in the test sequences at which atypical residues occur (amino acids not found in 50% or more of the reference sequences). Those atypical non-contiguous amino acids common to all clone sequences from the patient constitute the signature or "fingerprinting" for that individual's viruses. Sequences from epidemiologically linked individuals, or even sequences from different tissues in the same individual, are then analyzed in relation to this differentiating pattern. With reasonable assumptions, probabilities can be assigned to the signature unique to a group of sibling sequences.

RESULTS: In a study of viral sequences from a dentist and five of his patients whom he appears to have infected during the course of invasive oral procedures, signature pattern analysis strongly supports the conclusion of transmission in a health care setting. The dentist's viral fingerprint was found in all five patients' viruses but not in viral sequences of 35 local controls. All patient signatures are found in one or more of the dentist's viral sequences but not in the controls.

CONCLUSIONS: Molecular epidemiologic investigations of HIV transmission, especially linked transmissions and questions of dual infection, will be significantly enhanced through the employment of signature pattern analysis.

Copyright © 1992 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.