A survey for 32 nucleotide deletion in the CCR-5 chemokine receptor gene (deltaccr-5) conferring resistance to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in different ethnic groups and in chimpanzees.
The 32 nucleotide deletion in the CCR-5 chemokine receptor gene referred to as deltaccr-5 has been shown to confer resistance to HIV-1. Using PCR, 1,105 human subjects and 33 common chimpanzees were genotyped attributing them to one of the three possible genotypes: wild-type homozygote (w/w); deltaccr-5 homozygote (deltaccr-5/deltaccr-5) and deltaccr-5/wild-type heterozygotes (deltaccr-5/w). The ethnic groups investigated included different Middle Eastern nationalities (mainly Arab) and Russians. Carriers of the deltaccr-5 mutation were found among Arabs, Iranians and Russians. The highest frequency of the mutation was seen in Russians (24.4% of the deltaccr-5 heterozygotes, allele frequency-0.1221). Surprisingly, the only deltaccr-5 homozygote identified in our study was an Egyptian. The origin of the deltaccr-5 mutation in the Middle Eastern populations, both Arab and non-Arab, is most probably due to a gene flow from the Europeans. The frequency of the deltaccr-5 mutation in Russians is one of the highest known. It might be one of the factors contributing to a relatively slow pace of increase in the incidence of sexually acquired HIV infection in Russia. None of the chimpanzees tested was positive for deltaccr-5. Interestingly, the DNA sequence of the chimpanzee CCR-5 gene in the region including the site of the deltaccr-5 mutation, and flanking areas, was virtually identical to the homologous human sequence, only two mismatches (silent substitutions) were found.
Voevodin
A
A
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Safat.
Samilchuk
E
E
Dashti
S
S
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics; D007730:Kuwait; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009031:Moscow; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D019713:Receptors, CCR5 / Q000235:genetics*; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D004279:DNA, Viral; D019713:Receptors, CCR5