Combined Effect of CCR5-Δ32 Heterozygosity and the CCR5 Promoter Polymorphism −2459 A/G on CCR5 Expression and Resistance to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Transmission

Abstract

ABSTRACT Exposed seronegative individuals (ES) with persistent high-risk sexual behavior may be less susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection because they carry the chemokine receptor (CR) gene alleles CCR5 open reading frame (ORF) Δ32, CCR5 promoter −2459G, or CCR2 ORF 64I (CCR2-64I), all of which have been found to diminish HIV-1 infectivity and/or disease progression. To investigate this, we determined the haplotypes for these three genetic loci in 93 ES and 247 low-risk control individuals. To test if protective haplotypes exert their effect by modulating CR expression, we measured the protein expression of CCR5 and CXCR4 on circulating CD4 + T cells and CD14 + monocytes in 71 ES and 92 controls. To avoid investigator bias, the analysis was performed without knowledge of each subject's risk and genotype. The CCR5 −2459G allele was significantly enriched in ES Caucasian men, who constituted the majority (84%) of the ES cohort, compared to the control Caucasian men ( P = 0.02). This increase was mostly attributable to a higher frequency of the −2459 A/G versus the −2459 A/A genotype in individuals heterozygous for the Δ32 allele ( P = 0.012). No protective influence of the CCR2-64I allele was observed. The haplotypes CCR5 ORF Δ32/CCR5 −2459A (in complete linkage disequilibrium) and CCR5 ORF wt/CCR5 −2459G had a cumulative negative effect on the expression of CCR5, since we measured significantly reduced CCR5 densities on both T-helper cells and monocytes only when both haplotypes were present. Densities of CCR5 on lymphocytes and monocytes were correlated ( r = 0.59; P < 0.0001), indicating concordance of CCR5 expression patterns across different cell types. We conclude that the CCR5 ORF Δ32/wt-CCR5 −2459 A/G genotype combination offers an advantage in resisting sexual HIV-1 transmission and that this effect is mediated by a relative paucity of CCR5 on potential target cells of HIV-1.