e a cellular receptor called CCR5, in addition to the CD4 molecule, to enter certain of its target cells. HIV-infected people with a specific mutation in one of their two copies of the gene for this receptor generally have a slower disease course than people with two normal copies of the gene. People with two mutant copies of the CCR5 gene appear -- in most cases -- to be completely protected from HIV infection.

Several epidemiological studies have shown that individuals with one mutant copy of the CCR5 gene are disproportionately represented among long-term nonprogressors. The LIR defines long-term nonprogressors as people who have been HIV-infected for more than seven years, have stable CD4+ T cell counts above 600 per cubic millimeter (mm³) of blood, have no history of HIV-related symptoms, and who have not taken antiretroviral drugs.

Drs. Cohen, Fauci and their team began recruiting long-term nonprogressors five years ago to determine the specific factors that protect these people from HIV disease progression. Soon after the discovery of the role of CCR5 in HIV disease and the association of the mutant CCR5 gene with slower disease progression, the LIR team found that people with one copy of the mutant gene (and one copy of the normal gene) were over-represented in their cohort of long-term nonprogressors.

With that
'"/>

Contact: Greg Folkers
gfolkers@nih.gov
301-402-1663
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
15-Sep-1997

Page: 1 2 3 4 5
Related biology news :

1. Mutant mice lead to memory insights
2. Mutant biological machine makes proteins but cant let go
3. Mutant gene linked to obsessive compulsive disorder
4. Mutant gene found to cause early ovarian failure in mice
5. Mutants from a lowly weed may solve maladies
6. Mutant proteins may be key to defeat chemical warfare
7. Protein Misfolding, Not Mutant Gene, Key To Lethal Sleep Disorder
8. Mechanism Discovered For Determining Early Vertebrate Body Plan: New Zebrafish Mutants Afford Deeper Look Into Embryonic Patterning
9. MITs Mini Respirator Breathes Life Into Mutant Mice
10. Induced Mutant Mouse Models Of Lipoprotein Disorders And Atherosclerosis
11. Single Mechanism Seen To Underlie Group Of Neurodegenerative Diseases: Mutant Proteins Form Insoluble Masses In The Nuclei Of Neurons