AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, July 14, 2003
Staff Medical Writer

"The absence of immune defects that occurs in the syndrome of long-term nonprogressive (LTNP) HIV infection offers insights into the pathophysiology of HIV-induced immune disease," researchers in the United States explained. "The (H[F/S]RIG)(2) domain of viral protein R (Vpr) induces apoptosis and may contribute to HIV-induced T cell depletion."

In their study, J.J. Lum and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation in Rochester, Minnesota discovered "a higher frequency of R77Q Vpr mutations in patients with LTNP than in patients with progressive disease."

"In addition, T-cell infections using vesicular stomatitis virus G (VSV-G) pseudotyped HIV-1 Vpr R77Q result in less (P = 0.01) T-cell death than infections using wild-type Vpr, despite similar levels of viral replication," according to the report.

Experimental results showed that "wild-type Vpr-associated events, including procaspase-8 and -3 cleavage, loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Deltapsi(m)), and DNA fragmentation factor activation are attenuated by R77Q Vpr."

"These data highlight the pathophysiologic role of Vpr in HIV-induced immune disease and suggest a novel mechanism of LTNP," the researchers concluded.

Lum and coauthors published the results of their research in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (Vpr R77Q is associated with long-term nonprogressive HIV infection and impaired induction of apoptosis. J Clin Invest. 2003 May;111(10):1547-54.

For additional information, contact A.D. Badley, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Division of Infectious Diseases, 200 1st St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

The publisher of the Journal of Clinical Investigation can be contacted at: American Society for Clinical Investigation Inc., 35 Research Dr., Ste. 300, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of AIDS and HIV and Proteomics.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

Reference

Lum JJ, Cohen OJ, Nie Z,et al., "Vpr R77Q is associated with long-term nonprogressive HIV infection and impaired induction of apoptosis", J Clin Invest. 2003 May;111(10):1547-54

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