14 Facts About HIV

HIV infection leads to low levels of CD4 T cells through a number of mechanisms, including pyroptosis of abortively infected T cells, apoptosis of uninfected bystander cells, direct viral killing of infected cells, and killing of infected CD4 T cells by CD8 cytotoxic lymphocytes that recognize infected cells.

HIV is a member of the genus Lentivirus, part of the family Retroviridae.

HIV-1 is the virus that was initially discovered and termed both lymphadenopathy associated virus and human T-lymphotropic virus 3 .

The ends of each strand of HIV RNA contain an RNA sequence called a long terminal repeat .

HIV-2 is much less pathogenic than HIV-1 and is restricted in its worldwide distribution to West Africa.

Related searches

HIV virion enters macrophages and CD4 T cells by the adsorption of glycoproteins on its surface to receptors on the target cell followed by fusion of the viral envelope with the target cell membrane and the release of the HIV capsid into the cell.

Mature HIV mRNAs are exported from the nucleus into the cytoplasm, where they are translated to produce HIV proteins, including Rev As the newly produced Rev protein is produced it moves to the nucleus, where it binds to full-length, unspliced copies of virus RNAs and allows them to leave the nucleus.

The many dissemination mechanisms available to HIV contribute to the virus's ongoing replication in spite of anti-retroviral therapies.

Chimpanzee SIV, the closest genetic relative of HIV-1, is associated with increased mortality and AIDS-like symptoms in its natural host.

Three groups of HIV-1 have been identified on the basis of differences in the envelope region: M, N, and O Group M is the most prevalent and is subdivided into eight subtypes, based on the whole genome, which are geographically distinct.

In many parts of the world, HIV has become a chronic condition in which progression to AIDS is increasingly rare.

HIV independently discovered the AIDS virus in 1983 and named it the AIDS associated retrovirus .

HIV-1 appears to have originated in southern Cameroon through the evolution of SIVcpz, a simian immunodeficiency virus that infects wild chimpanzees .

The closest relative of HIV-2 is SIVsmm, a virus of the sooty mangabey, an Old World monkey living in littoral West Africa .