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J. Virol., Dec 1995, 8142-8146, Vol 69, No. 12
Y Huang, L Zhang and DD Ho
We have previously shown that there were no gross deletions or obvious
sequence abnormalities within nef of human immunodeficiency virus type 1
(HIV-1) in the 10 long-term survivors studied (Y. Huang, L. Zhang, and D.
D. Ho, J. Virol. 69:93-100, 1995). Here we extend our study to examine
these nef alleles in a functional context. Using a new technique, termed
site-directed gene replacement, we have precisely replaced the nef of an
infectious molecular clone, HIV-1HXB2, with nef alleles derived from 10
long-term survivors as well as from a patient with AIDS. The replication
properties of these chimeric viruses demonstrated that the nef alleles
derived from long-term survivors neither significantly increased nor
decreased viral replication, compared with the nef allele of Nef+ HIV-1HXB2
and that derived from a patient with AIDS. However, Nef+ viruses always
replicated faster than virus lacking nef. Moreover, single-cell infection
analysis by the MAGI assay showed that these chimeric viruses, as well as
Nef+ HIV-1HXB2, were more infectious than Nef- HIV-1HXB2 was. Therefore, we
conclude that the genotypic and phenotypic features of nef are not likely
to account for the nonprogression of HIV-1 infection in the 10 cases
studied, unless the function of the nef gene in vivo is not accurately
reflected by the in vitro assays we used.
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology
Biological characterization of nef in long-term survivors of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA.
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