Functional domains of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Nef protein are conserved among different clades in Cameroon.
The Nef protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has multiple functional domains, is immunogenic, and contains several cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-targeted epitopes. Several defined subfunctions of Nef are important for the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection. In this study, we present the genetic diversity of the nef gene of 55 newly derived HIV-1 sequences obtained from Cameroonian patients. Four genetic subtypes and three circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) were identified: subtypes A (11%), G (7.3%), D (5.4%), F1 (1.8%), F2 (5.4%), CRF01_AE (5.4%), CRF02_AG (58.2%), and CRF11_cpx (1.8%). Two isolates clustered distinctly from the known HIV-1 genetic subtypes in nef and were designated as unclassified. Interestingly, the majority of all functional domains including the myristoylation signal, CD4 binding motif, beta turn motif, and the phosphorylation sites were well conserved in our cohort. Putative CTL-epitopic domains of the central portion of Nef were also well conserved, whereas those at the C-term were not. Our study demonstrated that despite high genetic diversity observed in the nef gene, most described functional domains and CTL epitopes were well conserved among Cameroonian HIV-1 subtypes. These findings could be used for the development of antiretroviral-acting therapeutics and anti-HIV-1 vaccines.
Ndjomou
Jean
J
Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
Zekeng
Leopold
L
Kaptue
Lazare
L
Däumer
Martin
M
Kaiser
Rolf
R
Matz
Bertfried
B
Kupfer
Bernd
B
D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002163:Cameroon; D005260:Female; D015693:Gene Products, nef / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
D015693:Gene Products, nef; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus