Meeting report: 30th International Conference on Antiviral Research, in Atlanta, GA, USA

Vere Hodge, R Anthony

The transmitted virus, while distinct, is derived from a viral quasi-species that has evolved in its chronically infected host. This is because in the infecting partner, the HLA-directed cellular immune response leads to the selection of escape mutations. How does the transmission of such HLA-associated mutations effect the immune recognition of the transmitted founder virus in its new host? Because of successive selection in previous hosts, it is possible that some of the transmitted virus will already be 'adapted' to the immune system of the newly infected person. On the other hand, virions, which retain the consensus epitopes, are likely to be more easily recognised by the immune system. Therefore, samples of PBMCs were taken from 20 newly infected individuals (68 days after estimated infection) and stimulated with peptides corresponding to adapted (42) and non-adapted (61) epitopes in their founder virus. This work confirmed that prior immune selection history could render the transmitted virus either more or less visible to the new host's immune system. Adaption of the virus can reduce the protective effects of potentially favourable HLA alleles and impact the ability of the newly infected individual's immune system to control the virus.