Document Type
Article
Department
Urology; Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the course of time-dependent evolution of HIV-1 subtype A on a global level, especially with respect to the dynamics of immunogenic HIV gag epitopes.
Methods: We used a total of 1,893 HIV-1 subtype A gag sequences representing a timeline from 1985 through 2010, and 19 different countries in Africa, Europe and Asia. The phylogenetic relationship of subtype A gag and its epidemic dynamics was analysed through a Maximum Likelihood tree and Bayesian Skyline plot, genomic variability was measured in terms of G → A substitutions and Shannon entropy, and the time-dependent evolution of HIV subtype A gag epitopes was examined. Finally, to confirm observations on globally reported HIV subtype A sequences, we analysed the gag epitope data from our Kenyan, Pakistani, and Afghan cohorts, where both cohort-specific gene epitope variability and HLA restriction profiles of gag epitopes were examined. Results: The most recent common ancestor of the HIV subtype A epidemic was estimated to be 1956 ± 1. A period of exponential growth began about 1980 and lasted for approximately 7 years, stabilized for 15 years, declined for 2-3 years, then stabilized again from about 2004. During the course of evolution, a gradual increase in genomic variability was observed that peaked in 2005-2010. We observed that the number of point mutations and novel epitopes in gag also peaked concurrently during 2005-2010.
Conclusion: It appears that as the HIV subtype A epidemic spread globally, changing population immunogenetic pressures may have played a role in steering immune-evolution of this subtype in new directions. This trend is apparent in the genomic variability and epitope diversity of HIV-1 subtype A gag sequences.
Publication
Plos One
Recommended Citation
Abidi, S. H.,
Kalish, M. L.,
Abbas, F.,
Rowland-Jones, S.,
Ali, S.
(2014). HIV-1 subtype A gag variability and epitope evolution. Plos One, 9(6), 1-9.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_surg_urol/16
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.