Highly Variable Sequences in theenvV3 Region of HIV Type 1 Distributing among Thai Carriers from 1995 to 1997

Abstract

The amino acid sequences of the Env V3 region of HIV-1 subtype E in Thailand were highly variable in the samples obtained from 1995 to 1997, compared with the previously reported sequences in samples obtained from 1990 to 1993. The sequences of the V3 region in the samples from five provinces in Thailand revealed that the variability was much higher in the samples from Bangkok and Ubonrachathani than in those from Chiangmai, Prathumthani, and Trang. There was no apparently different level of diversity at the V3 region in the samples from symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. The V3 loop motif in most (66.7%) of the samples was GPGQ, although this motif was more heterogeneous in the samples from Bangkok and Ubonrachathani than in those from the other three provinces. The N-linked glycosylation sites in the V3 region among these samples were relatively conserved. There was no apparent difference in the presence of positively charged amino acids at positions 306 and 320 between the samples from symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals.

Molecular Evolution of the HIV-1 Thai Epidemic between the Time of RV144 Immunogen Selection to the Execution of the Vaccine Efficacy Trial

“…First, it was noted that the withinsubtype interhost genetic divergence had increased significantly compared to that noted in earlier surveys (9,10,17,(22)(23)(24)(25). Second, the barriers that maintained the segregation of subtypes on the basis of risk factors started to efface; the representation of CRF01_AE among IDUs increased, especially among new infections (26), to the point where CRF01_AE accounted for 80 to 90% of the cases in Bangkok and the northern province of Chiang Mai (27,28).…”

Full-Length Sequences of Two CRF01_AE (Subtype E) HIV Type 1 Isolates from 1995 Samples of Patients with Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Thailand

“…The initial HIV-1 CRF01_AE isolates obtained from asymptomatic carriers in Thailand between 1990 and 1992 were remarkable for their genetic homogeneity. Recently, we showed that the amino acid sequences in the env V3 region of HIV-1 CRF01_AE in Thailand were highly variable in samples obtained from 1995 to 1997, 9 compared with the previously reported sequences in samples obtained from 1990 to 1992. The sequences of the V3 region in the samples from five provinces in Thailand revealed that the variability was much higher in the samples from Bangkok and Ubonrachathani than those from Chiangmai, Prathumthani, and Trang.…”

“…9 The patient's peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were separated on Ficoll-Paque and cultured in RPMI-1640 medium containing 50 units/ml of interleukin-2 (IL-2) (Boehringer-Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany), 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), and antibiotics. Aliquots of 2 3 10 5 PBMCs were cocultured with 6 3 10 5 phytohemagglutinin (PHA) (5 mg/ml)-stimulated healthy donor-derived PBMCs in 24-well microplates in a total volume of 2 ml/well for 7 days.…”

Aberrant life cycle of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 CRF15_01B-like clinical isolates from Thailand in human CD4+ T-cell lines

“…The primers used were previously described: for env V3, MK603 and CO602 followed by EB2 and EC2 [18]; and for vpu, Tat-1 and Vpu-2 followed by Tat-3 and Vpu-4 [13]. The PCR products were subjected to direct sequencing using ABI version 3.7 [18].…”

“…The primers used were previously described: for env V3, MK603 and CO602 followed by EB2 and EC2 [18]; and for vpu, Tat-1 and Vpu-2 followed by Tat-3 and Vpu-4 [13]. The PCR products were subjected to direct sequencing using ABI version 3.7 [18]. The phylogenetic trees of these sequences were constructed by the neighbor joining method with ClustalW program (1.82) under the default parameters on the ClustalW web server (http://srs.ebi.ac.uk).…”