Researchers identify novel factor in HIV transmission

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Researchers identify novel factor in HIV transmission [think before following links] https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-factor-hiv-transmission.html

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During untreated HIV infection, many different variations of the virus are made within a single person. But when a new infection occurs, it's not the result of many viruses—just one variant is transmitted. This is known as the "transmission bottleneck," and scientists have struggled to explain it.

The UVA researchers, including Jackson, David Rekosh and Dr. Marie-Louise Hammarskjöld, say the bottleneck may result in part from variations in the viral Rev protein and how it interacts with a part of the viral RNA known as the Rev response element, or RRE. The interaction is needed for the virus to make copies of itself in the cytoplasm inside our cells.

The UVA team looked at Rev-RRE activity in viruses during vaginal HIV transmission and found that the viruses that established the new infections tended to show low Rev-RRE activity. That suggests that naturally occurring variations in Rev-RRE activity may determine which viruses start a new infection. It also may allow the virus to adapt to different "fitness landscapes," which could play a key role in how HIV takes hold inside a new person.

"This is a new insight into HIV transmission," Hammarskjöld said. "If the Rev-RRE system is important here, it could also be important for other aspects of HIV disease, including how the virus establishes lifelong infections."

 

Edited March 22 by fuckholedc