Persistence of dual-tropic HIV-1 in an individual homozygous for the CCR5Δ32 allele

✍ Scribed by Paul R Gorry; Chengsheng Zhang; Sam Wu; Kevin Kunstman; Elizabeth Trachtenberg; John Phair; Steven Wolinsky; Dana Gabuzda

• Book ID: 117280743
• Publisher: The Lancet
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 83 KB
• Volume: 359
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0140-6736
• DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(02)08681-6

✦ Synopsis

Entry of HIV-1 into a cell happens only after viral envelope glycoproteins have bound to CD4 and a chemokine receptor. Generally, macrophage-tropic strains use CCR5, and T cell-line-tropic strains use CXCR4 as coreceptors for virus entry. Dual-tropic viruses can use both CCR5 and CXCR4. About 1% of white people are homozygous for a non-functional CCR5 allele, containing a 32 base pair deletion (CCR5 Delta 32). We studied the persistence of dual-tropic HIV-1 in an individual homozygous for this deletion. Our results suggest that structural features of the HIV-1 envelope linked to CCR5 tropism could confer a selective advantage in vivo.