De Leys R, Vanderborght B, Vanden Haesevelde M, Heyndrickx L, van Geel A, Wauters C, Bernaerts R, Saman E, Nijs P, Willems B. Isolation and partial characterization of an unusual human immunodeficiency retrovirus from two persons of west-central African origin.
J Virol 1990;
64:1207-16. [PMID:
2304140 PMCID:
PMC249235 DOI:
10.1128/jvi.64.3.1207-1216.1990]
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Abstract
An unusual human retrovirus was isolated from two patients with persistent generalized lymphadenopathy who originate from West-Central Africa and are currently residing in Belgium. Although the virus shared a number of the same biological and morphological properties as human immunodeficiency retrovirus type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2, significant antigenic differences could be demonstrated. Several of the viral proteins also differed in molecular weight from the corresponding HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteins. Partial chemical cleavage of the most highly conserved viral proteins resulted in patterns which differed from those of HIV-1 and HIV-2. Furthermore, nucleic acid hybridization experiments were capable of discriminating between the virus types. Sequence analysis of the viral U3 region revealed a unique enhancer organization not found in other immunodeficiency viruses. The data indicated that the new isolate is more closely related to HIV-1 than to HIV-2 but clearly differs in a number of important respects.
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