Abstract
An HIV-1 infection progresses in most human individuals sooner or later into AIDS, a devastating disease that kills more than a million people worldwide on an annual basis. Nonetheless, certain HIV-1-infected persons appear to act as long-term non-progressors, and elite control is associated with the presence of particular MHC class I allotypes such as HLA-B*27 or -B*57. The HIV-1 pandemic in humans arose from the cross-species transmission of SIVcpz originating from chimpanzees. Chimpanzees, however, appear to be relatively resistant to developing AIDS after HIV-1/SIVcpz infection. Mounting evidence illustrates that, in the distant past, chimpanzees experienced a selective sweep resulting in a severe reduction of their MHC class I repertoire. This was most likely caused by an HIV-1/SIV-like retrovirus, suggesting that chimpanzees may have experienced long-lasting host-virus relationships with SIV-like viruses. Hence, if natural selection is allowed to follow its course, prospects for the human population may look grim, thus underscoring the desperate need for an effective vaccine.
Highlights
An human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection progresses in most human individuals sooner or later into Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a devastating disease that kills more than a million people worldwide on an annual basis
It is important to mention that highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) does not eradicate HIV-1 [3], and several studies have demonstrated that discontinuation of HAART may result in a rapid viral rebound [4,5,6,7]
The virus either directly infects CD4+ T cells, is recruited by dendritic cells (DC), or is taken up by macrophages. The latter two cell types act as a kind of Trojan horses, and transport HIV-1 through different layers of epithelial cells to the lymphoid tissues, where they can transfer the virus to CD4+ T cells [15,16]
Summary
The selective sweep in chimpanzees: a mirror of humankind’s future? A remaining question concerns how many chimpanzees died during the pandemic that may have been caused by an HIV-1/SIVcpz-like retrovirus. The selective sweep in chimpanzees resulted in the preferential selection of Patr class I allotypes that can target conserved areas of Gag similar to those targeted by HLA-B*27/B*57. In humans, these allotypes seem to predispose for the immune-mediated pathologies ankylosing spondylitis and psoriasis, respectively. For humans up until now, control of HIV-1 replication, without treatment, is significantly associated with the MHC region, in particular with the MHC class I molecules HLA-B*27:05 and -B*57:01, which can target conserved regions of the HIV-1 Gag protein. Both authors have given their final approval of the manuscript
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