Identification and characterization of previously described epitopes in HIV-1 subtypes B, C, F and BF in Brazil

Genetic analysis of HIV-1 is essential to improve treatment strategies and select epitopes for vaccine programs. The objective of this study was to determine whether known CD4+ and CD8+ epitopes were present in Brazilian HIV-1 strains. We used previously described CD8+ and CD4+ epitopes from the Los Alamos laboratory to search for these epitopes in the Brazilian sequences using the HIVbase program and we compared the frequency results with the analyses using physical-chemical profile tools from Network Protein Sequence Analysis (NPSA), and the SYFPEITHI program. Furthermore, this analysis was carried out with the Prosite tool using the GeneDoc program and ds/dn analyses using the Synonymous Nonsynonymous Analysis Program (SNAP). The HIVbase epitope mapping demonstrated that 30 CD8+ and 6 CD4+ epitopes were present in the Brazilian sequences at a high frequency. Only two of these epitopes were heavily glycosylated. Interestingly, ds/dn analyses showed evidence of purifying selective pressure. These types of analyses could be useful for the assessment of possible vaccine efficiency in populations.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Queiroz,Artur Trancoso Lopo de, Santos,Luciane Amorim, Moreau,Domingos Ramon, Oliveira,Tulio de, Watkins,David I., Galvão-Castro,Bernardo, Alcantara,Luiz Carlos Junior
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases 2007
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-86702007000100008
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