A New HIV Strain Is Running Wild In Siberia

The lab first identified CRF02_AG/A in 2009 when they performed the usual task of  sequencing a virus from an HIV patient. The circumstances were fairly normal.  The individual, a male, had acquired the virus in Novosibirsk through  heterosexual contact. When the sequences came back, however, they revealed an  entirely new strain. Not believing that this was an isolated case, the team went  back in time and looked at previously identified HIV samples. They found that  half of the new cases in the region were being caused by CRF02_AG/A.

For the team at Vector, this phenomenon had to be better understood. Usually,  emerging HIV strains start small and gradually spread. But this strain had  become predominant quickly. There had to be something different about it;  perhaps it was more virulent or conversely, more able to hide detection. What  they found, however, was both.

In order to test virulence, the team looked for the protein p24, which is associated with HIV disease progression in  the body. They cultured the virus for 11 days and then looked for the amount of  p24 produced. They found twice the level of p24 in the CRF02_AG/A strain in  comparison to other circulating strains from the region. The virus was indeed  more virulent as it could hasten the progression of disease and potentially the  onset of AIDS. Yet when it came to the actual effect of this rapid progression  on the body, they found the exact opposite effect. When cells were infected with  the CRF02_AG/A strain, they were less likely to be harmed and die.

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