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- Title
Is the high virulence of HIV-1 an unfortunate coincidence of primate lentiviral evolution?
- Authors
Kirchhoff, Frank
- Abstract
In the subset of primate lentiviruses that contain a vpu gene - HIV-1 and its simian precursors - the Nef protein has lost the ability to down-modulate CD3, block T cell activation and suppress programmed death. Vpu counteracts a host restriction factor induced by the inflammatory cytokine interferon-alpha. I propose that the acquisition of vpu may have allowed the viral lineage that gave rise to HIV-1 to evolve towards greater pathogenicity by removing the selective pressure for a protective Nef function that prevents damagingly high levels of immune activation.
- Publication
Nature reviews. Microbiology, 2009, Vol 7, Issue 6, p467
- ISSN
1740-1534
- Publication type
Review
- DOI
10.1038/nrmicro2111