HIV-Related Virus Has Existed in Primates for Millions of Years

by Elizabeth Goldbaum, Staff Writer | August 27, 2015 03:05pm ET

Viruses related to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have infected Old World monkeys as far back as 16 million years ago, according to a new study. The research provides insight into how monkeys evolved and adapted to the simian version of HIV, and why some viruses can jump from one species to another, researchers say.

In the new study, researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of a gene that produces a protein that protects mammals' cells from retroviruses — a group of viruses that includes HIV and its counterpart that affects monkeys, called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Both HIV and SIV are lentiviruses, a subset of retroviruses. With lentiviruses, it takes a relatively long time between when a person or animal is exposed to the virus and when symptoms show up. For instance, it may take two to four weeks for people infected with HIV to show flu-like symptoms, according to the U.S. Department of Health.

"HIV in humans is actually the result of an SIV jumping from chimpanzees in Africa into humans, and then adapting to humans and spreading in the human population," said study co-author Welkin Johnson, a biology professor at Boston College. The close genetic relationship between humans and monkeys allowed the virus to jump between species, Johnson said.

Continued ...

Wild chimps teach scientists about gene that encodes HIV-fighting protein

Date:

May 28, 2015

Source:

PLOS

Summary:

Different people can vary substantially in their genetic susceptibility to viruses, including HIV. Although the biology that underlies this variation in humans is still being uncovered, it seems that we may be able to learn some key lessons from our closest cousins.

Read on ...

Mouse With Human Immune System May Revolutionize HIV Vaccine Research

ScienceDaily (July 18, 2012) — One of the challenges to HIV vaccine development has been the lack of an animal model that accurately reflects the human immune response to the virus and how the virus evolves to evade that response. In the July 18 issue of Science Translational Medicine, researchers from the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), MIT and Harvard report that a model created by transplanting elements of the human immune system into an immunodeficient mouse addresses these key issues and has the potential to reduce significantly the time and costs required to test candidate vaccines.

"Our study showed not only that these humanized mice mount human immune responses against HIV but also that the ability of HIV to evade these responses by mutating viral proteins targeted by CD8 'killer' T cells is accurately reflected in these mice," says Todd Allen, PhD, senior author of the report. "For the first time we have an animal model that accurately reproduces critical host-pathogen interactions, a model that will help facilitate the development an effective vaccine for HIV." Recent studies by Allen's team and others have revealed that immune control of HIV is significantly limited by the ability of the virus to evade immune responses by rapidly mutating.


Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120718143911.htm

Aids research creates glowing cats (via Jessica Heard)

Green glowing cats have been created by gene scientists working on the Aids virus.

The spooky-looking moggies had their DNA modified with a gene from a fluorescent jellyfish. Placed under blue light, their fur, claws and whiskers emit an eerie green glow.

The purpose of the study was to show how a natural protein that prevents macaque monkeys developing Aids can do the same in cats.

Scientists in the US used the jellyfish gene to track the gene for the protein. Both were inserted into the DNA of adult tabby cats, which gave birth to luminous kittens.

Cats are susceptible to their own version of the HIV virus that triggers Aids, called FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus).

Normally the immune systems of cats and humans are overwhelmed by the viruses.

But macaque monkeys possess "restriction factor" proteins that can stop the viruses invading immune cells.

When cats were genetically engineered to produce one of these factors, TRIMcyp, FIV replication was reduced.

Two male cats and one female with the genes were born and survived. The male passed the genes down to kittens of his own, which emitted a weaker glow.

Eric Poeschla, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, New York state, who led the study, reported in the journal Nature Methods: "One of the best things about this biomedical research is that it is aimed at benefiting both human and feline health. It can help cats as much as people."

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/aids-research-creates-glowing-cats-170133077.html