Over 4,000 leading researchers and clinicians from around the world have convened in San Francisco from February 16 through February 19, 2010 for the 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). CROI is a scientifically focused meeting of the world's leading researchers working to understand, prevent, and treat HIV/AIDS and its complications. The goal of CROI is to provide a forum for translating laboratory and clinical research into progress against the AIDS epidemic.
To keep the conference conducive to formal and informal scientific exchange, registration to the CROI is limited to researchers actively participating as investigators in basic science or clinical studies of retroviral diseases and their complications and clinician-teachers. Ninety percent of the meeting- including abstracts, posters, and Web casts of oral sessions- will be available online at www.retroconference.org.
The Laboratory of Retrovirology had two poster presentations:
Identification of IgA phage mimotopes recognized by long term non progressors and HIV-infected patients. Sylvie Delhalle, Sandrine Peruchon, Andy Chevigné, Aurélie Fischer, Jean-Claude Schmit and Sabrina Deroo.
The aim of the study was to identify new epitopes of HIV-specific IgA present in Long Term Non Progressors (LTNP) plasma. These sequences could be extremely helpful to develop new immunogens for a multi-epitope vaccine eliciting IgA responses at mucosal sites. Three mimotopes representing IgA epitopes present in 67% of 31 HIV-infected patients were identified by screening IgA of 2 LTNP. These mimotopes were mapped on solvent-exposed regions of the viral envelope. This work underlined the HIV specificity of the IgA mimotopes and their immunogenic potential to elicit antibody responses reducing mucosal infection.
The CRF_42BF outbreak in Luxembourg is not related to a higher viral replication capacity but to an elevated transmission efficiency. Daniel Struck, François Roman, Christine Lambert, Cécile Masquelier, Jean-Yves Servais, Karima Jnaoui, Monique Nijhuis, Patrick Goubau, Carole Devaux and Jean-Claude Schmit.
The aim of the study was to explain the successful spread of a new B/F1 recombinant form identified in Luxembourg, the CRF42_BF, and to explore whether the viral population dynamics of this recombinant could be related to its viral replication and/or transmission. CRF_42BF was characterized by a normal substitution rate in agreement with an in vitro replication capacity similar to B or F1 viruses. In contrast, our Bayesian estimates of population dynamics revealed a fast initial growth that may be related to an in vitro transmission advantage of the variant. Our study is the first study relating the viral population dynamics with the replication and transmission fitness of a new HIV-1 recombinant form.