HIV-2 EHO ISOLATE HAS A DIVERGENT ENVELOPE GENE AND INDUCES SINGLE-CELL KILLING BY APOPTOSIS

The human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2)-related isolate, refer red to as HIV-2 EHO, has been isolated from an Ivory Coast patient wit h acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Infection of CD4 expressi ng cells with this highly infectious virus mediates a cytopathic effec t characterized by single-cell killing as a consequence of apoptosis. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the HIV-2 EHO genome revealed a signif icant degree of divergence of its envelope gene from that of other kno wn HIV-2 strains. This divergence for the deduced amino acid sequence corresponding to the extracellular envelope glycoprotein was 26 to 30% . These unique genetic and biological properties suggest that the HIV- 2 EHO isolate is a distinct prototype in the HIV-2 family. (C) 1994 Ac ademic Press, Inc.