4th International AIDS Conference Stockholm, Sweden. — June 12-16, 1988

Int Conf AIDS. 1988 Jun 12-16;4:1.107 (abstract no. PL5)

William A. Haseltine
Dana-Farber Cancer Inst. Harvard Medical School, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115 USA

HIV induces a slow progressive degenerative disease of the immune and central nervous systems. Initial viremia is followed by a long latent period that in turn is followed by re-emergence of the virus. A wide variety of cell types, all bearing CD4 surface protein can be infected by HIV but only CD4+ T cell lymphocytes are efficiently killed. A vigorous anti-viral humoral and detectable cell mediated immune responses are present in most infected people.

The molecular biology of HIV helps to understand the observed pathology. Persistent infection is understood in terms of the life cycle of the infectious agent, a retrovirus. Progressive disease is understood in terms of the selective cytotoxicity of the virus, permitting reservoirs of virus producing cells to accumulate and also in terms of the ability of the virus to evade the immune response. Evasion of the immune response is under-stood as a function of the structure of the virus envelope protein as well as the ability of the virus to establish fully latent states and partially latent infections. The slow progression of disease is a consequence of the highly regulated life cycle of the virus.

Implications of the molecular biology of HIV for improved diagnosis treatment and prophylaxis will be discussed.

880612
PL5

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