Current HIV Research - Volume 5, Issue 1, 2007

Current HIV Research begins its fifth volume providing our readers with stimulating, timely, and in-depth articles on current HIV and AIDS research. As the Editor-in-Chief, I take this opportunity to thank the authors who contributed their ideas and insights into each article. The manuscripts in previously published volumes highlight a wide array of innovative scientific and medical research on HIV/AIDS. In 2007, (Volume 5), Curr Read More

The emergence of drug-resistant HIV-1 strains presents a challenge for the design of new drugs. Targeting host cell factors involved in the regulation of HIV-1 replication might be one way to overcome the resistance of HIV-1 to anti-viral agents. Our recent studies identified protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) as an important regulator of HIV-1 transcription. Transcription of HIV-1 genes is activated by HIV-1 Tat protein that i Read More

The emergence of drug-resistant HIV-1 strains presents a challenge for the design of new drugs. Targeting host cell factors involved in the regulation of HIV-1 replication might be one way to overcome the resistance of HIV-1 to anti-viral agents. Our recent studies identified protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) as an important regulator of HIV-1 transcription. Transcription of HIV-1 genes is activated by HIV-1 Tat protein that i Read More

The devastating consequences of AIDS pandemic will probably only be controlled when a vaccine is developed that is safe, effective, affordable, and simple enough to permit implementation in developing countries where the impact of AIDS is most severe. However, the major obstacle for the control of the spread of AIDS lies in the diversity of HIV and its enormous evolutionary potential. Numerous HIV forms contribute to the Read More

The gp160 complex of the envelope of the HIV virus and its component gp120 are essential for viral entry into the host cell. Gp120 binding to its receptor CD4 and co-receptor, CXCR4 or CCR5 is required for fusion of viral and cellular membranes. The presence of gp120 facilitates immune escape of the virus through its profound effect on the immune cells. It is a polyclonal activator of B cells, causing them to differentiate in Read More

Human immune deficiency virus (HIV) and human hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are frequent in patients who have been exposed to blood or blood-derived products. It has been suggested that HIV infection increases HCV replication altering the course of HCV-related disease. However, it is not known if HIV directly enhances HCV replication or if its effect is the consequence of HIV infection of other cell types that control H Read More

The HIV-1 spacer peptide p1 is located in the C-terminus of the Gag polyprotein and separates the nucleocapsid (NC) and p6Gag. Research centered on p1 has been limited and as yet no function has been ascribed to this spacer peptide. We have previously found that the conserved p1 proline residues (position 7 and 13) are critical for replication in the HIV-1 strain HXB2-BH10. In this study we have focused on the prolin Read More

Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS)-transformed human T cells expressing terminal membrane proteins (TMPs) tyrosine kinase interacting protein (Tip) and saimiri transformation associated protein strain C (StpC) are highly permissive for R5 and X4 strains of HIV-1. StpC expression enhances replication of R5 and X4 strains of HIV-1 and induces latent reservoirs of replication competent HIV-1 in cell lines derived from T cells or monocytes. Read More

Antigenic variation, which is the result of amino acid substitution and genetic evolution, poses a major challenge in the development of vaccines against pathogens with unstable genomes, such as HIV-1 and Influenza. Thus, it is highly important to characterize the relationship of genetic evolution, antigenic variation and positional mutation (GAP) from the perspective of vaccine development. For this purpose, we introduc Read More

Much of the current effort in HIV-1 vaccine design is directed at achieving T-cell immunity that will result in enough immunological memory to contain HIV-1 infection after acquisition. However, antigenic diversity, plus a lack of understanding of HIV-1 vaccine immunology, have hindered the development of a globally effective cytotoxic Tlymphocyte (CTL)-based vaccine. Cellular response, in using a finite immune system to re Read More

Background: Information from patient-reported outcomes (PROs) can enhance patient-provider communication and facilitate clinical research. However, there are barriers to collecting PROs within a clinic. Recent technological advances may help overcome these barriers. We examined the feasibility of using a web-based application on tablet PCs with touch screens to collect PROs in a busy, multi-provider, outpatient HIV clini Read More

To fully define HLA-A11- restricted HIV-1- specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes in China, a method combining the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay with intracellular gamma interferon staining (ICS) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was used to map the optimal epitopes targeted by ELISPOT and then to define the HLA restriction of epitopes by ICS. A novel HLA-A11-restricted CTL epitope and five Read More

Introduction: Several studies performed before the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have shown that HIV-1 infection is an important cause of dilated cardiomyopathy. However, factors associated with the development of HIV-associated cardiomyopathy in developing countries are still debated. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of dilated cardiomyopathy, diagnosed by echocardiography, in HIV-infec Read More