AEGiS-12IAC: Escape recombinants of HIV-1 in a dually-infected transfusion recipient.

12th International AIDS Conference

Geneva, Switzerland - June 28-July 3, 1998

Escape recombinants of HIV-1 in a dually-infected transfusion recipient.

Int Conf AIDS 1998 Jun 28-Jul 3; 12:22 (abstract no. 11199)

Diaz RS, Zanotto P, Mayer A, Busch MP, Holmes E
Dipa, EPM, Unifesp, R Botucata, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Before blood donations were routinely screened for HIV, two distinct viral populations from unrelated blood donors (D1, D2) infected a multiply-transfused newborn infant (DR). This dual infection resulted in re-combination between the two infecting viral strains (J Virol 1995; 69: 3273). Here, we continue the analysis of this epidemiologic cluster to address the issue of strain competition in the context of selective correlates of recombination, in order to better understand the nature of the processes at play.

METHODS: cDNA from plasma was end-point diluted and amplified for the tat and env V3-5 regions of HIV-1 by nested PCR, and sequenced. Sequences from the members of the cluster were phylogenetically analyzed.

RESULTS: The V3 region in DR genomes showed an intricate mosaic pattern of recombination between parental D1- and D2-derived genomes. In the V4-5 region, however, all but one DR genome (20/21) had only D1-derived sequences. The D2-derived env regions were shown to be under positive selective pressure (dn:ds > 1, p < 0.001) but the D1-derived env regions were not. Tat region sequences in DR showed D1 and D2-complexes without bias. The bias in DR towards the absence of D2-derived V4-5 sequences can be explained by a process of escape recombination if D2-motifs elicited a stronger host response than D1-motifs, thereby conferring a selective advantage on recombinants carrying D-1 V4-5 sequences.

Keywords: AEGIS, HIV-1, HIV Infections, HIV Seropositivity, Recombination, Genetic, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Human, Infant, Infant, Newborn, genetics, ICA12
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