[Newsdesk] Research brief

Infection with simian immuno-deficiency virus (SIV) progresses to AIDS in macaques, making them a great model for understanding HIV. However, in other monkeys that are natural hosts for the virus, such as sooty managabeys, infection is non-pathogenic despite high viraemia. An improved understanding of how a virus and a monkey peacefully coexist could help to identify ways to improve long-term care of people with HIV infection, reduce vertical HIV transmission, or develop an HIV vaccine. Whole-genome sequencing of sooty mangabeys has identified two differences in immune proteins that could help these primates to avoid AIDS: the absence of functional adhesion molecules ICAM2, and a function-impairing alteration in toll-like receptor 4.

Source: The Lancet Infectious Diseases - January 26, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Dara Mohammadi Tags: Newsdesk Source Type: research