Abstract
Rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) containing either a large nef deletion (SIVmac239Delta(152)nef) or interleukin-2 in place of nef developed high virus loads and progressed to simian AIDS. Viruses recovered from both juvenile and neonatal macaques with disease produced a novel truncated Nef protein, tNef. Viruses recovered from juvenile macaques infected with serially passaged virus expressing tNef exhibited a pathogenic phenotype. These findings demonstrated strong selective pressure to restore expression of a truncated Nef protein, and this reversion was linked to increased pathogenic potential in live attenuated SIV vaccines.
Published Version (Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have