Presence and role of HLA-C in HIV-1 infection

A whole genome association study reported a SNP at -35Kb from the HLA-C gene strongly associated to HIV-1 viral set point and HLAC expression level (Fellay J. et al., 2007). HLA-C is not down-modulated by HIV-1 Nef and can be specifically incorporated in viral membrane enhancing infectivity and resistance to neutralizing antibodies (Cosma A. et al., 1999). We investigated the role of HLA-C in modulating HIV-1 infectivity using cell fusion and pseudovirus infection models and the interaction between HLA-C and Env at membrane level and in purified fusion complexes