Current HIV Research - Volume 4, Issue 2, 2006

HIV-1, the causative agent of AIDS, is an obligate intracellular parasite that has both evolved to invade the complex human system and adapted to utilize the host machinery for its own propagation. A dynamic interaction between the virus and the host systems can be observed at every step of HIV-1 life cycle. Host factors are involved not only for mounting antiviral responses but are also hijacked by the virus to assist in its replic Read More

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has a small, multifunctional genome that encodes a relatively large and complex proteome. The virus has adopted specialized post-transcriptional control mechanisms to maximize its coding capacity while economically maintaining the information stored in cis-acting replication sequences. The conserved features of the 5' untranslated region of all viral transcripts sugge Read More

Cross-species transmission of retroviruses poses a threat to mammalian species. Zoonoses have given rise to devastating diseases because the host organism is not prepared to resist a new pathogen. Mammals have developed several layers of defense against viruses, including an intracellular antiretroviral defense, a part of innate immunity. Retroviral restrictions had been studied for decades using murine leukemi Read More

Dendritic cells (DCs), the professional antigen presenting cells, are critical for host immunity by inducing specific immune responses against a broad variety of pathogens. Remarkably the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV- 1) subverts DC function leading to spread of the virus. At an early phase of HIV-1 transmission, DCs capture HIV-1 at mucosal surfaces and transmit the virus to T cells in secondary lymphoid tissues. Capt Read More

Antibody neutralization would be a major way to prevent HIV infection and disease progression, but the complex relationship between host and pathogen makes tough to achieve this target through immunogens based on viral envelope proteins. Autoimmunity has been associated to bacterial and viral diseases, as a consequence of inflammatory response to pathogens; it may eventually lead to harm host cells and or Read More

Sterilising immunity against HIV-1 infection, whilst ideal, appears an unrealistic vaccination goal in the short term. More achievable is slowing the progression to disease and decreasing transmission by mounting strong T cell and neutralising antibody responses to maintain low viral loads. However, in both acute and chronic infection, mutant virus is selected to escape both arms of the adaptive immune system. Each mutat Read More

HIV-1 infection persists despite long-term administration of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The mechanism of this persistence appears to result primarily from viral infection of CD4+ T-lymphocytes that have the ability to duplicate and revert into a quiescent state. These infected resting cells are long-lived and evade immune surveillance or clearance. The inability to eradicate this class of cells, bearing the viral DN Read More

Sexual behavior can threaten the physical and social well-being of young people in the United States in a variety of ways, as it can put them at risk for infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), other sexuallytransmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended pregnancy. This review describes the current extent of HIV infection in American adolescents, identifies and characterizes particular high-risk groups and risk-b Read More

Background. Multiple factors have been previously described which could influence adherence to HAART. Our objective is to determine the fundamental factors which influence adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy in our population. Methods. A cross-sectional study was made selecting 143 outpatients attending our hospital HIV unit. 22 factors were recorded which could influence adherence to treatment (cove Read More

Previous analyses of HIV-1 surface glycoprotein indicate that both the V1/V2 region and the interaction of gp120 with CD4 influence the accessibility of the V3 region on gp120. In this study we investigated the accessibility of the V3 region of HIV-2 recombinant gp125 proteins using V3-specific mAbs (7C8 and 3C4) and analyzed the binding kinetics of soluble CD4 (sCD4) to recombinant HIV-1 gp120 and HIV-2 gp125 proteins by s Read More

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (in Japanese language "takotsubo" is a fishing pot with a round bottom and a neck that is used for trapping octopuses) is a new syndrome, which is characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction and by a typical left ventriculogram showing transient extensive akinesis of the apical and mid portions of the left ventricle with hypercontraction of the basal segment, from which this disease takes its Read More