New Publication from DC CFAR Investigators, Marcos Perez-Losada, PhD, and Keith Crandall, PhD


July 16, 2018

Drs. Perez-Losada and Crandall Photo
DC CFAR investigators, Marcos Perez-Losada, PhD, and Keith Crandall, PhD, along with their colleagues, has published an article in The Journal of Virology entitled, "Seminal Simian Immunodeficiency Virus in Chronically Infected Cynomolgus Macaques Is Dominated by Virus Originating from Multiple Genital Organs". 

This article discusses results from a study examining the origin and transmission of HIV in semen. n a substantial number of HIV-infected men, viral strains present in semen differ from the ones in blood, suggesting that HIV is locally produced within the genital tract. Such local production may be responsible for the persistence of HIV in semen despite effective antiretroviral therapy.  The study uses single-genome amplification, amplicon sequencing (env gene), and phylogenetic analyses to compare the genetic structures of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) populations across all the male genital organs and blood in intravenously inoculated cynomolgus macaques in the chronic stage of infection.  The researchers genetic similarities between the viral strains present in semen and those in epididymis, vas deferens, and seminal vesicles. Findings indicate that rather than a single source, multiple genital organs are involved in the release of free virus and infected cells into semen. These findings have important implications for our understanding of systemic virus shedding and persistence in semen and for the design of eradication strategies to access viral reservoirs.
 
Click here to read the full article.