title: Functional analysis of HIV-1 vif genes derived from Japanese long-term nonprogressors and progressors for AIDS.
abstract: We analyzed the function of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vif gene from Japanese long-term nonprogressors (LTNPRs) and progressors (PRs) for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). We constructed a basic HIV-1 infectious clone, which facilitated the incorporation and evaluation of vif from infected individuals. Proviral reporter clones carrying vif from six Japanese LTNPRs and seven PRs were then generated and their in vitro growth kinetics were analyzed. The vif clones, which could confer infectivity on reporter viruses, were considered active, and the ratio of the active clones to the number of clones examined per individual was determined. For the majority of LTNPRs, there was no correlation between presence or absence of functional vif with long-term nonprogression for AIDS. There was one exception in which all the clones examined had inactive vif, suggesting a probable association of inactive vif with the nonprogression. All PRs with high viral load had a high ratio of active vif clones. Our results suggest that the presence of functional vif would influence HIV-1 infectivity and disease progression in infected individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, The University of Tokushima Graduate School of Medicine, 3-18-15 Kuramoto-cho, Tokushima-shi, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: Abhay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jere
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Aikichi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Mikako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D018450:Disease Progression; D016346:Gene Products, vif / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016341:Genes, vif; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D020276:HIV Long-Term Survivors; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D054320:vif Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D016346:Gene Products, vif; D054320:vif Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus