A simian human immunodeficiency virus with a nonfunctional vpu (ΔvpuSHIV_KU-1bMC33) isolated from a macaque with neuroAIDS has selected for mutations in env and nef that contributed to its pathogenic phenotype

Previous studies have shown that passage of nonpathogenic SHIV-4 through a series of macaques results in the selection of variants of the virus that are capable of causing rapid subtotal loss of CD4⁺ T cells and AIDS within 6-8 months following inoculation into pig-tailed macaques. Using a pathogenic variant of SHIV-4 known as SHIV_KU-1bMC33, we reported that a mutant of this virus with the majority of the vpu deleted was still capable of causing profound CD4⁺ T cell loss and neuroAIDS in pig-tailed macaques (McCormick-Davis et al., 2000, Virology 272, 112-116). In this study, we have analyzed the tissue-specific changes in the env and nef in one macaque that developed neuroAIDS (macaque 50 O) and in three macaques that developed only a moderate or no significant loss of CD4⁺ T cells and no neurological disease (macaques 50 Y, 20220, 20228) following inoculation with ΔvpuSHIV_KU-1bMC33. Sequence analysis of the gp120 region of env isolated from lymphoid tissues (lymph node and spleen) of macaques 50 Y, 20220, and 20228 revealed no consensus amino acid substitutions. In contrast, analysis of the gp120 sequences isolated from lymphoid and CNS tissues (parietal cortex, basal ganglia, and pons) of macaque 50 O revealed numerous amino acid substitutions. The significance of the amino acid substitutions in gp120 was supported by neutralization assays which showed that the virus isolated from the lymph node of macaque 50 O was neutralization resistant compared to the parental SHIV_KU-1bMC33. Analysis of changes in the nef gene from macaque 50 O revealed in-frame deletions in Nef that ranged from 4 to 13 amino acids in length, whereas the nef genes isolated from the other three macaques revealed no deletions or consensus amino acid substitutions. Inoculation of the virus isolated from the lymph node of the macaque which developed neuroAIDS, SHIV_50OLNV, into four pig-tailed macaques resulted in a severe loss of the circulating CD4⁺ T cells within 2 weeks postinoculation, which was maintained for up to 20 weeks postinoculation, confirming that this virus had indeed become more pathogenic in pig-tailed macaques. Taken together, these observations suggest that ΔvpuSHIV_KU-1bMC33 has a low pathogenic phenotype in macaques but that individual pig-tailed macaques can select for additional mutations within the Env and Nef which can compensate for the lack of an intact Vpu and ultimately increase its pathogenicity.