simian

New binding target for oncogenic viral protein

The DNA tumor virus simian virus 40 produces the Large T antigen which inactivates two of the cell's most important cancer-preventing proteins, p53 and pRb. In a study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center r...

Elusive HIV shape change revealed; Key clue to how virus infects cells

...ry of Molecular Medicine, used the closely related simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) as a stand-in for HIV. By aiming an X-ray beam through a crystallized form of gp120, they obtained the first high-resolution three-dimensional images of the protein in its unbound form. They surmounted considerable techni...

Antibiotic might fight HIV-induced neurological problems

...elsewhere in the body. Five monkeys infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a very close relative of HIV, and treated with minocycline had less damage to brain cells, less brain inflammation, and less virus in the central nervous system than six infected monkeys that received no treatment, the r...

Primate virus jumps species barrier to humans for first time in Asia

...d case in Asia of primate-to-human transmission of simian foamy virus (SFV), a retrovirus found in macaques ... AIDS in humans, is believed to have originated as simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), and jumped the species barrier to humans when African bushmeat hunters...

Virus uses tiny RNA to evade the immune system

...us that can cause kidney infections in its natural simian host. In rodents, however, it can cause cancer. Although the SV40 genome has been found in some human tumors, its role in human cancer has been debated. The virus is better known as a model system that has greatly contributed to major scientific adva...

Federal grant funds research on novel HIV therapy

...-1R antagonists are safe in animals infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which is analogous to HIV. This study aims to provide proof of concept for human trials under Project 4. Project 4, led by Pablo Tebas, M.D., of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Scho...

Performing monkeys in Asia carry viruses that could jump species to humans

...a, Indonesia, and tested those samples for various simian viruses. They found that about half of the macaques tested positive for simian foamy virus (SFV), a primate retrovirus that so far has not been shown to cause disease in humans, b...

Immune response to HIV in the brain

...ed "chronic phase," were unknown-until now. Using simian immunodeficiency virus-infected models in the chronic phase, the research team found both virus and infiltrating lymphocytes (CD8+ T cells) in the brain. Molecular analysis revealed that the expression of several immune response genes was increased, ...

Experimental vaccine protects nonhuman primates when given after exposure to Marburg virus

...ed "chronic phase," were unknown-until now. Using simian immunodeficiency virus-infected models in the chronic phase, the research team found both virus and infiltrating lymphocytes (CD8+ T cells) in the brain. Molecular analysis revealed that the expression of several immune response genes was increased, ...

UAB researchers confirm HIV-1 originated in wild chimpanzees

...mparisons to be done between HIV-1 and its closest simian virus counterpart." He went on to say that "finding this cluster of naturally infected chimpanzees will allow us to explore the natural history and behavior of SIVcpz in its natural host and help us begin to unravel how and why SIVcpz made the jump t...

NHGRI announces latest sequencing targets

...dies. In addition, because it can be infected with simian immunodeficiency virus, a close cousin to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the rhesus is widely recognized as the best animal model for research on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. It also serves as a valuable model for studying o...

HIV-1's high virulence might be an accident of evolution

...IV-1 Nef protein, and those of its closest related simian viruses, however, lack this protective function, l...at gave rise to HIV-1 and may have predisposed the simian precursor of HIV-1 for greater pathogenicity in humans." "Heightened immune activation is the only...

AIDS vaccine research offers new insights on survival

...esearch found that among monkeys infected with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) -- 24 of which were vaccinated and six of which were not -- the immunity generated by the vaccine controlled infection for approximately 100 days before levels of virus increased and T-cell counts dropped. But instead of...

HIV gets a makeover

...irus -- known as SIVmac, or the macaque version of simian immunodeficiency virus -- to test potential therap... vigor. The researchers dubbed their end result simian tropic HIV (stHIV): a form of HIV-1 that only differs from the original by about 10 percent, but can...

Wild gorillas carriers of a SIV virus close to the AIDS virus

... article in the journal Nature, the discovery of a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in wild gorillas. Samples of faeces collected from different communities of gorillas found in the remotest areas of the Cameroon tropical forest were found to contain antibodies against this virus, called SIVgor...

Common mechanisms for viral DNA replication

... far easier to study in the much simpler virus. In simian virus 40 (SV40), the large T-antigen protein (T-ag) is responsible for recognizing DNA sequences required to start replication, called the origin of replication. SV40 T-ag can also cause DNA to melt or unwind. In a new study published online in the o...

Analysis of rhesus monkey genome uncovers genetic differences with humans, chimps

...ue." The rhesus, because of its response to the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), is widely recognized as the best animal model for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The rhesus genome sequence will also serve to enhance essential research in neuroscience, behavioral biology, reproductive ...

Jefferson scientists find rabies-based vaccine could be effective against HIV

... HIV, while the other was an internal protein from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). They used the latter because HIV does not cause disease in monkeys. The idea was that such rabies?vehicles, or "vectors," would help attract a strong response from the animal’s immune system, though the rabies virus ...