Decoding diversity Understanding Novel Mutations in HIV-1 Rev and LTR Genes

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) belongs to the Retroviridae family and the sub family Lentivirinae. Infection with HIV usually culminates in AIDS over a variable period of time. AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. HIV primarily infects critical cells in the human immune system such as helper T cells (specifically CD4 T cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells). The infection results in the loss of natural defense against trivial infections and makes the patient susceptible to various opportunistic infections resulting in the eventual death of the patient. HIV has a diploid RNA genome encoding nine viral proteins. HIV-1, demonstrates high genetic diversity due to lack of proof reading ability of its enzyme, reverse transcriptase. Although the HIV-1 epidemic in India is mainly due to subtype C, other subtypes have also been reported from different parts of India. To combat the infection and for the development of new anti-viral strategies, it is necessary to appreciate the extent of naturally found variations in HIV-1 genes. The focus of the present work was to study the naturally occurring novel mutations in HIV-1 Rev. LTR, Nef and Vpu genes. Since Rev is an important regulatory gene of HIV-1 genome for expression of HIV-1 structural proteins and production of genomic RNA. We first study the genetic and functional characterization of HIV-1 Rev derived from HIV-1 infected individuals in North India to find out the levels of genetic changes and to determine their functional relevance.