Activity of HIV-1 integrases recovered from subjects with varied rates of disease progression

We recently described 102 HIV-1 integrase sequences that were amplified from blood cells or plasma obtained up to 18 years ago from 5 hemophiliacs who later died of AIDS and 5 hemophiliacs subsequently classified as slow or nonprogressors (J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol 1998; 19:99-110). Although the region of the HIV-1 genome that encodes integrase was highly conserved, none of the deduced protein sequences of the patient-derived enzymes matched that of the clade B consensus or standard laboratory integrases.