Mechanisms of HIV envelope-induced T lymphocyte apoptosis

• Published in: Virologica Sinica Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 307 - 315
• Main Authors: Wan, Zhi-Tao, Chen, Xu-lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg SP Wuhan Institute of Virology, CAS 01.10.2010; State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus - toxicity; HIV - pathogenicity; Humans; Medical Microbiology; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbiology; Oncology; Signal Transduction; T-Lymphocytes - virology; T淋巴细胞; Virology; 人类免疫缺陷病毒; 受体介导; 淋巴细胞凋亡; 艾滋病毒; T lymphocyte; HIV; Envelope glycoprotein; Apoptosis
• ISSN: 1674-0769; 1995-820X; 1995-820X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12250-010-3148-7

Infection by the human immunodeficiency virus （HIV） is characterized by a progressive depletion of CD4 T lymphocytes, which leads to dysfunction of the immune system. Although a variety of mechanisms may contribute to the gradual T cell decline that occurs in H/V-infected patients, abnormal apoptosis of infected or bystander T lymphocytes is an important event leading to immunodeficiency. The HIV envelope glycoprotein plays a crucial role in HIV associated apoptosis through both death receptor-mediated and mitochondria-dependent pathways. This review summarizes current knowledge of Env-mediated T lymphocyte apoptosis.