- This research plan addresses two issues relating to coreceptor use by the HIV envelope glycoprotein gp120. The first is the selective pressures that favor transmission of CCR5-using (R5) HIV-1 at the time of primary infection. These studies are important for defining the selection pressures surrounding transmission and are of great importance for vaccine development and the potential use of CCR5 inhibitors in microbicides. We will characterize a series of primary transmission envelope clones, and then use them to test two hypotheses: (1) that transmitted virus is more stable under the physiological conditions of transmission, and (2) that selective infection of myeloid dendritic cells favors R5 virus transmission. The second issue addresses the selective forces that allow emergence of CXCR4-using viruses in 50% of patients after prolonged infection. We will characterize a longitudinal series of envelopes from early to end- stage infection and use them to test four additional hypotheses: (1) that the probability of coreceptor switching is influenced by the way in which envelope evolves to engage different extracellular domains of CCR5;(2) that CXCR4-using variants (R5X4 or X4 viruses) only emerge when antibody responses to envelope disappear;(3), that evolution of R5 viruses reaches a fitness ceiling in some patients that is followed by an abrupt loss of fitness that allows X4 viral variants to emerge without competition;and (4), that binding to sulfated glycosaminoglycans promotes coreceptor switching. The envelope sequences responsible for these functional changes will be mapped. These experiments are highly relevant to the approaching use of CCR5 inhibitors in phase III clinical trials, and may well predict the probability of resistance to this class of antivirals.
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