FUNDING ORGANIZATION	RESEARCH ORGANIZATION	PROGRAM	DIRECTOR	CITY	COUNTRY	ABSTRACT
	SIDA	NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORY (LNSP)	IDENTIFICATION OF VIRUS-HOST INTERACTION MECHANISMS THAT DIFFER BETWEEN HIV DISEASE PROGRESSION GROUPS	MEDSTRAND, PATRICK	BISSAU	GUINEA-BISSAU	View
The general aim of the proposed studies is to reveal mechanisms behind differences in disease progression rates among specific HIV progressor groups, by dissecting molecular mechanisms behind 1) the slower disease progression rate of HIV-1/HIV-2 dual (HIV-D) infected individuals compared to HIV-1 single infected individuals. 2) the HIV-2 normal (slow) progression compared to HIV-2 fast progression and HIV-1 progression Our proposal is based on recent major findings from our group, where we 1) identified HIV-D as a new group of slow progressors that is able to control their HIV-1 infection in a fashion that is not seen in the general HIV-1 infected case, and 2) identified both fast and normal HIV-2 progressors. Our observations are built on data with known infection dates combined with ~20 years of cohort study period. In the current proposal, we outline studies focusing on comparing different HIV progressor groups (HIV-1 vs. HIV-D; HIV-1 vs. HIV-2; and HIV-2 normal vs. HIV-2 fast progressors) with respect to differences in i) cellular host factors, ii) immune response and iii) viral characteristics. There is a great need of increased in-depth knowledge on how virus properties and virus-host pathways are connected to the viral pathogenesis. Such knowledge would provide important information of clinical significance and on the HIV pathogenesis in general, that might be exploited in the discovery of novel prophylactic and therapeutic interventions against HIV.