title: Retroviral proteins that target the major histocompatibility complex class I.
abstract: The human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) retroviruses are two evolutionary distinct human pathogens. HTLV-1 is the etiologic agent of two diverse diseases: adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, as well as the neurologic disorder tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy. HTLV-1 is the only retrovirus known to be the etiologic agent of human cancer. HTLV-2, the other known oncovirus, is not apparently associated with human cancer. While HTLV-1 transforms T-cells in vitro, HIV kills CD4+ T-cells and is the etiological agent of human acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, characterized by a progressive loss of CD4+ cells, weakening of the immune system, and susceptibility to opportunistic infections and cancer. HTLV-1 and HIV-1 both cause lifelong infections, which suggests that they have evolved mechanism(s) to evade detection by the host's immune response; particularly to evade cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, which play a major role in cellular immunity against viruses and will be the focus of this review.
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Basic Research Laboratory, 41/D804, Bethesda, MD 20892-5055, USA. johnsonjm@helix.nih.gov
authors.forename: Julie M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Genoveffa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Franchini
mesh_terms: D015536:Down-Regulation; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000378:metabolism; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins