title: Molecular epidemiology demonstrated three emerging clusters of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype B infection in Hong Kong.
abstract: We conducted a molecular epidemiological study on newly diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected patients in Hong Kong to identify the epidemiological linkage of HIV-1 infection in the locality. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for HIV-1 was performed on newly diagnosed HIV-1-positive sera collected from January 2002 to December 2006. PCR products correspond to the env C2V3V4 region and gag p17/p24 junction of the HIV-1 genome were nucleotide sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses performed on the acquired nucleotide sequences revealed that CRF01_AE and subtype B were the two dominant HIV-1 subtypes. Analyses also demonstrated the presence of three emerging HIV-1 clusters among the subtype B sequences in Hong Kong. Individual cluster possesses a unique cluster-specific amino acid signature for identification. Data show that one of the clusters (Cluster I) is rapidly expanding. In addition to the unique cluster-specific amino acid signature, the majority of sequences in Cluster I harbor a 6-amino acid insertion at the gag p17/p24 junction in a region that is thought to be closely associated with HIV-1 infectivity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Public Health Laboratory Services Branch, Centre for Health Protection, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Tommy W C
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Darwin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mak
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: D N C
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D021901:DNA, Intergenic / Q000235:genetics; D015752:Genes, env / Q000235:genetics; D015750:Genes, gag / Q000235:genetics; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D015488:HIV Antigens; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C054858:p17 protein, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1; C514799:p24 protein, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1