title: Simple determination of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 syncytium-inducing V3 genotype by PCR.
abstract: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) phenotype variability plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AIDS. The presence of syncytium-inducing (SI) HIV-1 isolates in infected individuals is associated with a rapid decline of CD4+ T cells, rapid disease progression, and reduced survival time after AIDS diagnosis. The strong association between the SI capacity of HIV-1 and the presence of positively charged amino acid residues at positions 306 and/or 320 in the third variable domain (V3) of gp120 could here be confirmed in 97% of 402 primary HIV-1 isolates, indicating that the V3 genotype may be useful for prediction of the viral phenotype. The V3 DNA sequences revealed a remarkably limited codon usage for the amino acid residues that are responsible for virus phenotype. On the basis of this limited SI-specific DNA sequence variation, four SI-specific oligonucleotides were designed for selective amplification of V3 from SI but not non-SI HIV-1 isolates. This PCR analysis allowed the prediction of the biological phenotype of HIV-1 isolates on the basis of the V3 genotype and may prove to be useful for monitoring SI capacity of HIV-1 isolates in infected individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Viro-Immunology, Central Laboratory of The Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Fouchier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Broersen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schuitemaker
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000235:genetics*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; C059762:HIV envelope protein gp120 (305-321); D010446:Peptide Fragments