Role of Transmitted Gag CTL Polymorphisms in Defining Replicative Capacity and Early HIV-1 Pathogenesis
Figure 1
Insertion of the gag gene from newly infected individuals dramatically alters the replicative capacity of MJ4.
In order to generate replication curves, 5×105 GXR25 cells were infected with Gag-MJ4 chimeras at an MOI of 0.05. Viral supernatants (100 µL) were collected on days 2, 4, and 6, and the amount of virus in supernatants was quantified using a radiolabeled reverse transcriptase assay. Replicative capacity scores were generated by dividing the log10-transformed slope of replication of each Gag-MJ4 chimera by the log10-transformed slope of MJ4. It is clear that the insertion of the gag gene alone can dramatically alter the in vitro RC, generating viruses with up to 1000-fold different replication curves. DLU, digital light units.