Brain Advance Access originally published online on May 30, 2006
Brain 2006 129(7):1872-1883; doi:10.1093/brain/awl136
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Genetic attributes of cerebrospinal fluid-derived HIV-1 env
1 University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA 2 University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA 3 VA San Diego Healthcare System San Diego, CA, USA 4 VA Medical Center San Francisco San Francisco, CA, USA 5 Monogram Biosciences, Inc. South San Francisco, CA, USA 6 HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center San Diego, CA, USA 7 Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich Zurich, Switzerland
Correspondence to: Satish K. Pillai, UCSF Department of Medicine/NCIRE, 4150 Clement Street (111W3), San Francisco, CA 94121, USA E-mail: satish.pillai{at}ucsf.edu
HIV-1 often invades the CNS during primary infection, eventually resulting in neurological disorders in up to 50% of untreated patients. The CNS is a distinct viral reservoir, differing from peripheral tissues in immunological surveillance, target cell characteristics and antiretroviral penetration. Neurotropic HIV-1 likely develops distinct genotypic characteristics in response to this unique selective environment. We sought to catalogue the genetic features of CNS-derived HIV-1 by analysing 456 clonal RNA sequences of the C2-V3 env subregion generated from CSF and plasma of 18 chronically infected individuals. Neuropsychological performance of all subjects was evaluated and summarized as a global deficit score. A battery of phylogenetic, statistical and machine learning tools was applied to these data to identify genetic features associated with HIV-1 neurotropism and neurovirulence. Eleven of 18 individuals exhibited significant viral compartmentalization between blood and CSF (P < 0.01, SlatkinMaddison test). A CSF-specific genetic signature was identified, comprising positions 9, 13 and 19 of the V3 loop. The residue at position 5 of the V3 loop was highly correlated with neurocognitive deficit (P < 0.0025, Fisher's exact test). Antibody-mediated HIV-1 neutralizing activity was significantly reduced in CSF with respect to autologous blood plasma (P < 0.042, Student's t-test). Accordingly, CSF-derived sequences exhibited constrained diversity and contained fewer glycosylated and positively selected sites. Our results suggest that there are several genetic features that distinguish CSF- and plasma-derived HIV-1 populations, probably reflecting altered cellular entry requirements and decreased immune pressure in the CNS. Furthermore, neurological impairment may be influenced by mutations within the viral V3 loop sequence.
Key Words: HIV; CNS; neurovirulence; evolution; compartmentalization
Abbreviations: GDS, global deficit scores; PCR, polymerase chain reaction
Received November 14, 2005. Revised March 31, 2006. Accepted April 20, 2006.
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