NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Duplications of the segment containing the immunity gene CCL3L1 are known to occur and new research indicates that having fewer CCL3L1 copies than the population average greatly increases HIV/AIDS susceptibility.
While it is known that segments containing immunity genes are often duplicated, the phenotypic consequences of these duplications were unclear, note senior author Dr. Sunil K. Ahuja, from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, and colleagues.
In the present study, reported in the January 6th online issue of Science, Dr. Ahuja’s team decided to focus on duplication of the gene for CCL3L1, a chemokine that is a potent suppressor of HIV-1 and ligand for the CCR5 coreceptor.
The authors found that the degree of duplication varied greatly between different individuals and populations. In all cases, having fewer copies of CCL3L1 than the population average markedly increased HIV/AIDS susceptibility. The elevated risk was even greater in subjects who also had disease-accelerating CCR5 genotypes.
“This relationship between CCL3L1 dose and altered HIV/AIDS susceptibility points to a central role for CCL3L1 in HIV/AIDS pathogenesis, and indicates that differences in the dose of immune response genes may constitute a genetic basis for variable responses to infectious diseases,” the researchers conclude.
Source: Sciencexpress 2005. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Biochemical Phenomena: Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition: Biological Sciences: Biology: Genetics: Genetics, Biochemical: Molecular Biology: Pathologic Processes: Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms: Disease Progression: Gene Duplication: Disease Attributes: Biological Sciences: DiseasesCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
