| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
ICHIMURA Hiroshi Kanazawa University, School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (10264756)
HAYAMI Masanori Kyoto University, Inst. for Virus Res., Professor, ウイルス研究所, 教授 (40072946)
IBUKI Kentaro Kyoto University, Inst. for Virus Res., Instructor, ウイルス研究所, 助手 (00273524)
TAKEHISA Jun Kanazawa University, School of Medicine, Associate Prof., 医学部, 助教授 (90322114)
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| Research Abstract |
The two primate retrovirus groups, HIV/SIV and HTLV/STLV, are now known to be genetically related each other and constitute a huge viral superfamily. Accumulated knowledges on the genetical analyses and the way of transmission of these two viral groups indicated that both groups appear to have been transmitting zoonotically. To elucidate the origins and evolution of these two virus groups, we conducted serosurveys and phylogenetic analyses of these viruses among AIDS patients, healthy persons, and Pygmy people, an ethnic minority in Central Africa (Cameroon, Republic of Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo).
Seroprevalece of Pygmies was unexpectedly low, and the viruses, if any, were considered to have been transmitted from neighboring Bantu residents judged from genetic data of the isolated ones. Detailed genetic analyses of HIV-1 from AIDS patients have revealed that the viral genomes are not only highly diversified but also frequently mosaic, which means that the genomes are mostly recombinant forms. From the survey among various monkey species, we firstly isolated a new SIV from black mangabeys captured in Democratic Republic of Congo. The phylogenetic position of this virus (SIVblm) is very unique, and interestingly a part of its pol genomic region (RnaseH) is genetically very close to that of the Ant strain, one of the oldest HIV 1 strain, suggesting that the genome of present HIV 1 might be mosaic and its origin is partly from this monkey species.
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