Investigation of the CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) delta32 and gene variants in HIV infected patients

Abstract

CCR5 is an important CC chemokine receptor for the normal entry of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in host cells. Mutations in this gene have been linked with delayed HIV infection, therefore, the current case-control study was conducted to identify genetic polymorphism in CCR5 gene in Pakistani population and to evaluate its association with resistance for HIV infections. All regulations of MOOSE and Helsinki Declaration were strictly followed during the entire study. DNA was extracted from the blood samples of HIV positive and HIV negative patients. Extracted DNA was amplified for CCR5 gene by PCR. Amplified product was sequenced to screen out polymorphism mutation, including most prevalent 32 base-pairs deletion through Bioedit. Novel SNP in 5?UTR region was identified and examined by CRYP-SKIP server. None of the studied samples demonstrated any previously reported polymorphisms. CRYP-SKYP server predicted that this polymorphism has no effect on splicing or transcription of CCR5 gene. Genetic Polymorphism of delta32 mutation in CCR5 gene was found in Pakistani individuals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report from this region. However, large scale studies should be conducted for extensive view of the association of delta32 mutation in CCR5 gene and resistance for HIV infection.