title: The HIV-1 pandemic: does the selective sweep in chimpanzees mirror humankind's future?
abstract: An HIV-1 infection progresses in most human individuals sooner or later into AIDS, a devastating disease that kills more than a million people worldwide on an annual basis. Nonetheless, certain HIV-1-infected persons appear to act as long-term non-progressors, and elite control is associated with the presence of particular MHC class I allotypes such as HLA-B*27 or -B*57. The HIV-1 pandemic in humans arose from the cross-species transmission of SIVcpz originating from chimpanzees. Chimpanzees, however, appear to be relatively resistant to developing AIDS after HIV-1/SIVcpz infection. Mounting evidence illustrates that, in the distant past, chimpanzees experienced a selective sweep resulting in a severe reduction of their MHC class I repertoire. This was most likely caused by an HIV-1/SIV-like retrovirus, suggesting that chimpanzees may have experienced long-lasting host-virus relationships with SIV-like viruses. Hence, if natural selection is allowed to follow its course, prospects for the human population may look grim, thus underscoring the desperate need for an effective vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Genetics and Refinement, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, Lange Kleiweg 161, 2288 GJ Rijswijk, The Netherlands. groot@bprc.nl
authors.forename: Natasja G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: de Groot
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Bontrop
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060467:Disease Resistance; D014943:Global Health; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D058873:Pandemics; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D016097:Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology