Biology of HIV/AIDS

SZL-2111 INTRODUCTION TO HIV/AIDS

The immune system
• The immune system serves as a means to resist infection.
• It is comprised of two major sub-divisions; The innate and adaptive/acquired immune
systems.
• Its main function is to discriminate between self and non-self thus protecting against
invading organisms and to eliminate modified or altered cells.
The adaptive immune system
• The adaptive immune response provides the vertebrate immune system with the ability to
recognize and remember specific pathogens (organisms that cause disease) to generate
immunity, and to mount stronger attacks each time the pathogen is encountered.
• It is “adaptive” immunity because the body's immune system prepares itself for future
challenges.
• The main cells in this type of immunity are T and B lymphocytes. There are two classes of
T cells; CD4+ and CD8+. (CD= cluster of differentiation).
• CD4 cells aka T helper (TH) cells can stimulate antibody production by B cells.
• CD8 cells aka cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) are associated with the destruction of
abnormal cells or those with an internalised pathogen i.e. tumour and virus infected cells.
CD4 lymphocytes
• These are involved in:
• The activation of dendritic cells
• The recruitment and activation of specialised CD8 T cells in antiviral responses
• Signalling for B cell expansion, inducing the production of antibodies and their
maturation into plasma and memory cells
• The secretion of cytokines that facilitate the differentiation of a variety of cell types
e.g. Macrophages, eosinophils and other T cells and
• The regulation of other immune responses
Immunity and hiv/aids
• There have been reported cases of people with a natural immunity to HIV/AIDS.
• 1% of northern Europeans are virtually immune to HIV.
 • A genetic defect in those with European or Central Asian ancestry provide the most
successful resistance to HIV as yet identified.
• Prostitutes in Ghana and Kenya who were repeatedly exposed to the virus showed no signs
of infection.
Immunity and hiv/aids
• Mutations in the genes that code for certain receptors necessary for HIV infection are the
main contributors to this resistance.
• CCR5 is the access key the virus needs to gain entry into its target cells (CD4).
• Immunological studies of the sera of the prostitutes showed that the women were
generating highly specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses to both HIV-1 and
HIV-2 peptides which leave them un-infected, suggesting that they have been immunised
by exposure to HIV.
Life cycle of hiv
• The HIV life-cycle involves a single HIV virus particle infiltrating a cell and uses it to
produce new HIV particles.
• These particles will be borne in fluid such as blood or semen, since the HIV virus cannot
survive on its own outside the body.
Any cell carrying the CD4 protein on its surface (which we call a CD4+ cell) is susceptible,
since CD4 is the main receptor for HIV. Different strains of HIV target different cells - but
T cells and macrophages, both of which are CD4+, are two important targets for HIV.
• The HIV life-cycle involves a single HIV virus particle infiltrating a cell and uses it to
produce new HIV particles.
• These particles will be borne in fluid such as blood or semen, since the HIV virus cannot
survive on its own outside the body.
Any cell carrying the CD4 protein on its surface (which we call a CD4+ cell) is susceptible,
since CD4 is the main receptor for HIV. Different strains of HIV target different cells - but
T cells and macrophages, both of which are CD4+, are two important targets for HIV.
• The first step of the HIV life cycle is binding to the cell membrane, followed by membrane
fusion, to get the virus particle's contents into the host cell.
• The second step involves reverse transcription of the HIV's genome from RNA into DNA,
and its integration into the host genome.
• When the virus is integrated into the host's DNA genome (as a provirus) then its
information is also encoded in DNA.