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J. Virol. doi:10.1128/JVI.00281-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Virus-subtype specific features of natural SIVsmm infection in sooty mangabeys

Divisions of Microbiology and Comparative Pathology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA 70433; Department of Tropical Medicine of the School of Public Health and Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112; Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Research Primate Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19107

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: capetrei{at}tulane.edu.

	Abstract

SIVsmm naturally infects sooty mangabeys (SMs) and is the source virus of pathogenic infections with HIV-2 and SIVmac of humans and macaques, respectively. In previous studies we characterized SIVsmm diversity in naturally SIV-infected SMs and identified 9 different phylogenetic subtypes whose genetic distances are similar to those reported for the different HIV-1 group M subtypes.

Here we report that, within the colony of SMs housed at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, at least four SIVsmm subtypes co-circulate, with the vast majority of animals infected with SIVsmm subtype 1, 2, or 3, resulting in the emergence of occasional recombinant forms. While SIVsmm-infected SMs show a typically non-pathogenic course of infection, we have observed that different SIVsmm subtypes are in fact associated with specific immunologic features. Notably, while subtypes 1, 2, and 3 are associated with a very benign course of infection and preservation of normal CD4⁺ T-cell counts, three out of four SMs infected with subtype 5 show a significant depletion of CD4⁺ T-cells. The fact that virus replication in SMs infected with subtype 5 is similar to that of SMs infected with other SIVsmm subtypes suggest that the subtype 5-associated CD4⁺ T-cell depletion is unlikely to simply reflect higher levels of virus-mediated direct killing of CD4⁺ T-cells. Taken together, this systematic analysis of the subtype-specific features of SIVsmm infection in natural SM hosts identifies subtype-specific differences in the pathogenicity of SIVsmm infection.

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