Objective: To study the polymorphism of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 coreceptor CXCR4 in Chinese Han ethnic group for AIDS prevention and treatment.
Methods: Totally 48 individuals were enrolled into the study. CXCR4 (cDNA No-AF147204) was cloned by PCR amplification using 2 pairs of primers, then sequenced using sequencing primers. The results of the same sequencing primers were analyzed by DNAstar software to find and identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites.
Results: Totally 7 SNPs were found in the coding region of CXCR4, among them 3 were synonymous mutation (C-->T at loci 129, 426 and 968), 3 were missense mutation (C-->T at locus 38, A-->T at locus 90, and A-->C at locus 712) and 1 was stop mutation (C-->T at 106, which converted the codon for glutamic acid into stop codon).
Conclusions: The polymorphism of CXCR4 coding region in Chinese Han is probably different from that of the other ethnic groups. Six of the 7 SNPs were discovered for the first time. Their influences on AIDS progression are worthy of studying.