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HIV-1 over time: fitness loss or robustness gain?

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 5, pages 1–2 (2007)Cite this article

In a recent issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology1 Arien and colleagues discussed the possibility that HIV-1 is measurably attenuated over time, based on reduced replication fitness in vitro. Historical isolates out-competed recent isolates in 176 out of 238 comparisons2, although only twice in 4 matched competitions between isolates of subtype B-CCR5. Whether decreased fitness in vitro equates with diminished HIV-1 virulence is debatable, especially without any evidence of reduced disease severity or transmission, as stable3,4,5 or worsening6,7 prognostic markers have been reported over time.

As an alternative to the possible adaptation to the host, we propose that HIV-1 is shifting towards the possession of increasingly robust population characteristics (providing greater resilience against niche perturbations), which sustain survival and proliferation during environmental fluctuations at the expense of replication fitness, so exemplifying the 'survival of the flattest' effect8.

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Figure 1: Fitness landscapes of historical and recent isolates of HIV-1.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Seattle Primary Infection Program (PO1 57005) and the University of Washington Center for AIDS Research (PO1 AI570005 and 61–480, RO1 AI058894 and AI047734).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-8070, Washington, USA

    Morgane Rolland, David C. Nickle, Joshua T. Herbeck, Brandon S. Maust & James I. Mullins

  2. Partners AIDS Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, 02192, Massachusetts, USA

    Christian Brander

  3. Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-8070, Washington, USA

    Geoffrey S. Gottlieb, Mary S. Campbell & James I. Mullins

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  1. Morgane Rolland
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  2. Christian Brander
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Correspondence to James I. Mullins.

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Rolland, M., Brander, C., Nickle, D. et al. HIV-1 over time: fitness loss or robustness gain?. Nat Rev Microbiol 5, 1–2 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1594-c1

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