Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 23, 2026

A Restriction Enzyme Based Cloning Method to Assess the In vitro Replication Capacity of HIV-1 Subtype C Gag-MJ4 Chimeric Viruses
Published on: August 31, 2014
HIV-1 adaptation to low levels of CCR5 results in V3 and V2 loop changes that increase envelope pathogenicity, CCR5
Himanshu Garg1, Raphael T C Lee2, Sebastian Maurer-Stroh3
1Center of Emphasis in Infectious Diseases, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, United States.
Abstract:
Variability in CCR5 levels in the human population is suggested to affect virus evolution, fitness and the course of HIV disease. We previously demonstrated that cell surface CCR5 levels directly affect HIV Envelope mediated bystander apoptosis. In this study, we attempted to understand HIV evolution in the presence of low levels of CCR5, mimicking the limiting CCR5 levels inherent to the host. HIV-1 adaptation in a T cell line expressing low levels of CCR5 resulted in two specific mutations; N302Y and E172K. The N302Y mutation led to accelerated virus replication, increase in Maraviroc IC50 and an increase in Envelope mediated bystander apoptosis in low CCR5 expressing cells. Analysis of subtype B sequences showed that N302Y is over-represented in CXCR4 tropic viruses in comparison to CCR5 tropic isolates. Considering the variability in CCR5 levels between individuals, our findings have implications for virus evolution, MVC susceptibility as well as HIV pathogenesis.
More Related Videos
10:50Assessment of Immunologically Relevant Dynamic Tertiary Structural Features of the HIV-1 V3 Loop Crown R2 Sequence by ab initio Folding
Published on: September 15, 2010
07:06Prediction of HIV-1 Coreceptor Usage Tropism by Sequence Analysis using a Genotypic Approach
Published on: December 1, 2011
Related Concept Videos
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Size and Structure of Viral Genomes
Viral Mutations
Retroviruses