title: Sequence variation within the human immunodeficiency virus V3 loop at seroconversion.
abstract: Analysis of the HIV-1 V3 quasispecies present in an individual at the time of seroconversion was carried out. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify proviral HIV-1 DNA extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a patient who was viraemic (p24 = 15 pg/ml) and had an equivocal HIV-1 antibody status. The PCR products were cloned and the DNA sequence determined for 15 clones. These data showed that the V3 region contained only limited sequence heterogeneity with a major variant accounting for 66% of the protein quasispecies present. The protein sequence of the principal neutralising domain on all species contained the relatively rare GPGKTL motif rather than GPGRAF. The relevance of these data for early stages of HIV infection are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Communicable Diseases, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ait-Khaled
authors.forename: V C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Emery
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D015752:Genes, env / Q000235:genetics*; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000235:genetics*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D014766:Viremia
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; C059762:HIV envelope protein gp120 (305-321); D010446:Peptide Fragments