Adaptive Evolution of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Type 1 During the Natural Course of Infection

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 272; no. 5261; pp. 537 - 542
• Main Authors: Wolinsky, Steven M., Bette T. M. Korber, Neumann, Avidan U., Daniels, Michael, Kunstman, Kevin J., Whetsell, Amy J., Furtado, Manohar R., Cao, Yunzhen, Ho, David D., Safrit, Jeffrey T., Koup, Richard A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 26.04.1996; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS); Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - immunology; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - virology; AIDS; AIDS (Disease); Amino Acid Sequence; Amino acids; Animals; Antigenic Variation; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Cohort Studies; Disease Progression; Entropy; Epitopes; Evolution; Genetics; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I - immunology; HIV; HIV (Viruses); HIV 1; HIV Antibodies - immunology; HIV Antigens - immunology; HIV Infections - immunology; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1 - genetics; HIV-1 - immunology; HIV-1 - pathogenicity; HIV-1 - physiology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Infections; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, SCID; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutation; Pathology; Phenotype; Phylogenetics; RNA, Viral - blood; Sampling; Scientific Concepts; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic - immunology; Topology; Virulence; Virus Replication; Viruses; Human; Immunopathology; HIV-1 virus; Pathogenesis; Retroviridae; AIDS; Cellular immunity; Immune deficiency; Host virus relation; Infection; Virus; Cell population; Viral disease; T-Lymphocyte; Lentivirinae; Human immunodeficiency virus
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.272.5261.537

The rate of progression to disease varies considerably among individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 (HIV-1). Analyses of semiannual blood samples obtained from six infected men showed that a rapid rate of CD4 T cell loss was associated with relative evolutionary stasis of the HIV-1 quasispecies virus population. More moderate rates of CD4 T cell loss correlated with genetic evolution within three of four subjects. Consistent with selection by the immune constraints of these subjects, amino acid changes were apparent within the appropriate epitopes of human leukocyte antigen class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Thus, the evolutionary dynamics exhibited by the HIV-1 quasispecies virus populations under natural selection are compatible with adaptive evolution.