Primate Lentiviruses and AIDS Research
Lennart Holterman 1, Ernst Jan Verschoor 1, Brigitte Rosenwirth 1, Jonathan Luke Heeney 1
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*Correspondence: Brigitte Rosenwirth, Email not available
Abstract
A number of African non-human primates are the natural hosts of a diverse subfamily of lentiviruses. Two primate species, the chimpanzee and the sooty mangabey are natural hosts to SIV cpz and SIV sm , which are found in the phylogenetic clades together with HIV-1 and HIV-2, respectively. Molecular epidemiological evidence suggests that the AIDS epidemic in humans may have arisen from several cross-species transmission events from these two nonhuman primate species to humans. Importantly, the cross-species transmission of SIV sm from African sooty mangabeys to various Asian macaque species results in an AIDS-like disease. This observation has provided a very valuable animal model which has proven critical for addressing specific problems in AIDS research.The development of a variety of molecular clones of SIVsm or SIV mac has provided powerful tools to greatly further our insight into the pathogenesis of AIDS. Molecular clones of SIV have been extensively used in developing vaccine strategies for the prevention of AIDS. Chimeric molecular clones of HIV-1 and SIV mac(SHIVs) have provided more refined macaque models and helped accelerate the development and evaluation of HIV-1 vaccines and novel therapeutics for the clinic.
