Compartmentalization of surface envelope glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 during acute and chronic infection.
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is characterized by extensive genetic heterogeneity. Having previously demonstrated that, in the peripheral blood, the initial viral population is more homogeneous than at subsequent stages of infection, we have extended our studies to tissue samples, allowing comparisons between viral populations in peripheral blood and tissues during both the acute and chronic stages of infection. We found that homogeneity in gp120 sequences during the acute infection phase is not just restricted to the peripheral blood but also extends to other tissue compartments. However, in chronically infected individuals, heterogeneous and distinct viral populations were found in different compartments. We therefore conclude that the dominant and homogeneous viral population observed during the acute infection phase is likely to infiltrate lymphoid tissues and form the genetic bases for subsequent diversification. It is therefore likely that the compartmentalization of viral sequences observed in chronically infected patients reflects a gradual diversification of a common dominant viral variant rather than the preferential migration of distinct viral populations to different tissue compartments at the beginning of infection.
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10016, USA. lzhang@adarc.org
Linqi
L
Zhang
Leslie
L
Rowe
Tian
T
He
Chris
C
Chung
Jian
J
Yu
Wenjie
W
Yu
Andrew
A
Talal
Marty
M
Markowitz
David D
DD
Ho
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000821:virology; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012007:Rectum / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120