Maedi-visna virus as a model for HIV

Abstract

Maedi-visna virus (MVV) is a lentivirus of sheep causing inflammation in many organs, primarily the lungs and CNS. HIV and SIV also belong to the lentivirus genus of retroviruses. MVV and HIV have many features in common, including genome organization, mode of virus replication, virus-host interaction and latency. Both viruses infect cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage, but the main difference in cell tropism is that, whereas HIV infects T lymphocytes, MVV does not. Here, the molecular biology, cell tropism and pathogenesis of MVV are reviewed and some of the similarities as well as the dissimilarities between MVV and HIV are discussed.

Mæði-visnuveira sýkir kindur og veldur aðallega lungnabólgu (mæði) og heilabólgu (visnu). Veiran er lentiveira og er náskyld alnæmisveirunni HIV. Veirurnar eiga margt sameiginlegt, svo sem skipulag erfðaefnis, virkni og gerð veirupróteina, fjölgunarferli, viðbrögð hýsils við sýkingu og dvalasýkingu, sem hýsillinn losnar aldrei við. Báðar veirur sýkja frumur ónæmiskerfisins; mæði-visnuveira sýkir átfrumur, en HIV sýkir bæði átfrumur og T-eitilfrumur. Í þessari yfirlitsgrein verða ýmis líkindi með þessum veirum reifuð.