Citation Information

Mackelprang RD, Bamshad MJ, Chong JX, Hou X, Buckingham KJ, Shively K, deBruyn G, Mugo NR, Mullins JI, McElrath MJ, Baeten JM, Celum C, Emond MJ, Lingappa JR, Partners in Prevention HSV/HIV Transmission Study and the Partners PrEP Study Teams (2017). Whole genome sequencing of extreme phenotypes identifies variants in CD101 and UBE2V1 associated with increased risk of sexually acquired HIV-1. PLoS pathogens, 13(11), e1006703. (pubmed) (doi)

Abstract

Host genetic variation modifying HIV-1 acquisition risk can inform development of HIV-1 prevention strategies. However, associations between rare or intermediate-frequency variants and HIV-1 acquisition are not well studied. We tested for the association between variation in genic regions and extreme HIV-1 acquisition phenotypes in 100 sub-Saharan Africans with whole genome sequencing data. Missense variants in immunoglobulin-like regions of CD101 and, among women, one missense/5' UTR variant in UBE2V1, were associated with increased HIV-1 acquisition risk (p = 1.9x10-4 and p = 3.7x10-3, respectively, for replication). Both of these genes are known to impact host inflammatory pathways. Effect sizes increased with exposure to HIV-1 after adjusting for the independent effect of increasing exposure on acquisition risk.