HIV-1 Coreceptor Usage, Transmission, and Disease Progression

Author: Philpott S.M.

Source: Current HIV Research, Volume 1, Number 2, April 2003 , pp. 217-227(12)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

HIV-1 coreceptor usage is believed to play a critical role in pathogenesis. To initiate infection, HIV-1 interacts with two cell surface receptors, CD4 is the primary receptor and the -chemokine receptors CCR5 and CXCR4 usually serve as secondary receptors. HIV-1 strains transmitted in vivo generally use CCR5. Viruses that use CCR5 (R5 viruses) appear to be associated with relatively stable infection. Years after chronic infection is established, CXCR4 utilizing strains emerge in ;50% of infected individuals. Viruses that use the coreceptor CXCR4 (X4 viruses) are associated with rapid CD4+ cell decline and disease progression. However, the mechanism by which X4 viruses are associated with accelerated disease progression has never been properly elucidated. For example, the association between X4 virus and acceleration of HIV-1 disease progression has been ascribed to the expanded spectrum of CXCR4+ precursor cells susceptible to infection by X4 strains. It has also been postulated that the decline of the host immune system associated with clinical AIDS may allow X4 viruses to evolve and replicate freely in late-stage infection. Discriminating between these and other alternatives is central to increasing our understanding of the fundamental pathogenic processes involved in HIV-1 infection. In this article, we critically review those studies published over the last few years that purport to examine the relationship between HIV-1 coreceptor usage, transmission, CD4+ T-cell depletion, and disease progression.

Keywords: Coreceptors,; chemokines,; transmission,; pathogenesis.

Language: English

Document Type: Review article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1570162033485357

Publication date: 2003-04-01

• Current HIV Research aims to cover all the latest and outstanding developments of HIV research. We invite comprehensive review articles and novel, pioneering work in the basic and clinical fields on all areas of HIV research, including virus replication and gene expression, HIV assembly, virus-cell interaction, viral pathogenesis, epidemiology and transmission, anti-retroviral therapy and adherence, drug discovery, the latest developments in HIV/AIDS vaccines and animal models, mechanisms and interactions with AIDS related diseases, social and public health issues related to HIV disease, and prevention of viral infection. Each issue of the journal contains a series of timely in-depth reviews and original research written by leaders in the field covering a range of current topics on HIV research. Periodically, the journal will invite guest editors to devote an issue on a particular area of HIV research of great interest that increases our understanding of the virus and its complex interaction with the host.

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