In vivo genetic variability of the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 V3 region.
The principal neutralizing epitope of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) lies between two invariant cysteines in the third variable region (V3) of the viral envelope (gp120), and its amino acid sequence varies among different HIV-1 isolates. HIV-2 carries an analogous amino acid sequence between two cysteines of the V3 regions, but its functional similarity with the HIV-1 principal neutralizing epitope is uncertain. We studied the degree of genetic variation of the HIV-2 V3 region in fresh blood samples from 12 HIV-2-seropositive individuals from Guinea-Bissau. Polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify viral fragments of 465 bp containing the V3 region from cellular DNA. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the entire envelope fragment from each patient revealed that the degree of variation among field isolates of HIV-2 is comparable to that observed in the analogous region of HIV-1. Most of the HIV-2 isolates studied were highly related, suggesting the existence of a limited number of different viral strains in the cohort studied. Thus, the HIV-2 and HIV-1 V3 regions vary to a similar degree and may also have analogous functions.
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- env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
- Virology
- Viral Envelope Proteins
- Simian immunodeficiency virus
- Simian Immunodeficiency Virus
- Sequence Alignment
- Protein Precursors
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Peptide Fragments
- Molecular Sequence Data
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
- Virology
- Viral Envelope Proteins
- Simian immunodeficiency virus
- Simian Immunodeficiency Virus
- Sequence Alignment
- Protein Precursors
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Peptide Fragments
- Molecular Sequence Data