Analysis of amino acid sequences of HIV-1 Nef proteins from a patient with AIDS dementia complex

Abstract

Objective To study the mutations of HIV-1 Nef proteins at amino acid level in different sites of neural tissues derived from a patient with AIDS dementia complex (ADC) and the possible pathogenic mechanism for ADC.Methods The nefgenes of HIV-1 from spleen and different brain tissues (basal ganglia,frontal gray matter,meninges and temporal lobe) of a corpse with ADC were amplified by PCR and sequenced.All sequences were analyzed by Bioedit and MEGA4 software.The mutations of HIV-1 Nef proteins at aminoacid level were analyzed by comparing with the amino acid sequences of a HIV-1 standard strain HXB2.Results HIV-1 Nef proteins isolated from different tissues of the patient with ADC showed different mutations at amino acid sites.Some mutations were co-existed in tissues from spleen and brain,while others were only found in spleen or brain tissues.These mutations might affect the biological activity or function of Nef proteins at certain degree and then have an impact on the replication,infection or apoptosis of HIV-1 viruses.Conclusion The mutations of HIV-1 nef genes resulted in some amino acid changes in Nef proteins isolated from different tissues of the patient with ADC,which might affect their biological activities.However,the correlation between these mutations and the pathogenesis of ADC still needs further investigation. Key words: Human immunodeficiency virus 1 ; HIV-1 Nef; AIDS dementia complex; Amino acid sequence