Genome-wide Association Study Reveals Novel Genetic Variants Associated with HIV-1C Infection in Botswana Population

Andrey Shevchenko1, Sergey V. Malov2, Alexey Antonik31Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics St.-Petersburg State University St-Petersburg, Russia, andrey.k.shevchenko@gmail.com2Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics St.-Petersburg State University St-Petersburg, Russia, malovs@sm14820.spb.edu3Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics St.-Petersburg State University St-Petersburg, Russia, alexey.antonik@gmail.com Genome wide association studies (GWAS) allow to identify common variants associated with the trait in question. In order to efficiently search for the genetic associations we have previously developed Genome-Wide AssociationВ Tracks Chromosome Highway (GWATCH). The broad goal of the Botswana GWAS project is to identify genetic determinants of susceptibility and resistance to infection by HIV-1 subtype C among people severely affected by HIV/AIDS in Botswana. By conducting GWAS analysis on HIV1C case/control dataset consisting of 762 Tswana people (combined from two partly overlapping datasets of 809 microarray and 362 WGS samples), we found several gene regions slightly below significance level.

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Catalytically active bispecific antibodies – new biochemical markers of HIV/AIDS

Svetlana Baranova1, Sergey Sedykh2, Georgy Nevinsky31SB RAS ICBFM, swb@niboch.nsc.ru2SB RAS ICBFM, NSU, sedyh@niboch.nsc.ru3SB RAS ICBFM, NSU, nevinsky@niboch.nsc.ru HIV-infection is a viral disease, causing an immune deficiency. In patients with HIV/AIDS there were described a number of changes similar to autoimmune processes. An important problem of HIV/AIDS research is the prognosis of infection. As it was previously shown, autoimmune processes damage the nervous systems, and one of the markers of these processes are catalytic antibodies and bispecific antibodies. Such antibodies in vitro can hydrolyze neurospecific substrates. Similiar antibodies were described in the blood of healthy donors, patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Proteolytic IgGs hydrolyze myelin basic protein and oligodendrocytic peptide. We have shown that sera of HIV/AIDS, SLE and MS patients contain autoantibodies against histones and myelin basic protein. Here we show the results of research of natural bispecific catalytically active antibodies isolated from the blood of HIV/AIDS patients. Also, we compared the level of the protease activity of antibodies with the stage and characteristics of the pathological process. Interestingly, the pathological processes in HIV/AIDS are similar with such in MS and SLE. The development of new methods for diagnosing the patient’s condition, the effectiveness of therapy, and also predicting disease outcome in the future can be used for personalized therapy and improving the patient’s quality of life. The research was supported by Grant of RFBR № 20-34-70115.

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Development and analysis of AIDS epidemic agent-based computer model applying an algorithm for explicit calculation of HIV replicability

Poster (download) Anna Smirnova1, Mikhail Ponomarenko2, Sergey Lashin31ICG SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia NSU, Novosibirsk, Russia, asmirnova@bionet.nsc.ru2ICG SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia, pon@bionet.nsc.ru3ICG SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia NSU, Novosibirsk, Russia, lashin@bionet.nsc.ru Different strains of HIV contribute differently to the course of the disease. For its evaluation, 1,336 HIV strains were analyzed. An agent model of the spread of HIV infection in the population has been developed. We analyzed 5 scenarios for the development of the HIV epidemic in Russia, depending on the initial data. Without additional measures, after 10 years, the percentage of HIV patients in Russia will increase from 1% to 2.45%. Comprehensive measures to increase the use of barrier contraception, reduce the number of joint injections among drug users and improve the situation with treatment coverage can reduce the percentage of patients from 1% to 0.3% and prevent the emergence of new patients.

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