The HIV nef protein within ARL is genetically and structurally distinct from those in the brain of patients with HAD

Abstract

Background Despite antiretroviral therapy, macrophages remain significant cellular reservoirs for HIV infection. Two fatal macrophage-mediated diseases still occur at a much higher rate in the HIV-infected and HAART-treated population: (1) AIDS-related lymphoma (ARL), a noninflammatory disease, and (2) HIV-associated dementia (HAD), an inflammatory disease. The frequency of HIVinfected macrophages in ARL is 50%. Macrophages are the primary HIV-infected cells in the brain. The mechanisms that lead to the development of these diseases are not understood. Because certain subtypes of HIV are associated with a higher prevalence of HAD, a viral genetic determinant for HAD development is likely. On the other hand, ARL development occurs fairly consistently across multiple HIV subtypes and genetic analysis has clearly differentiated ARL tissue-associated HIV from non-ARL tissue HIV within individuals. These facts raise two questions: (1) Are there tumor-specific genetic differences among HIV proteins that could influence the macrophage to accelerate ARL development? (2) How might HAD-associated and ARL-associated viruses differ at the genetic and structural levels? Our goal was to analyze HAD and ARL viral sequences and determine whether a disease association could be identified within viral proteins. Methods