Question

What is CCR5delta32?

Why are individuals who are homozygous for this mutation significant for this study and HIV research in general?

study is from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC21923/

Answer 1

The CC-Chemokine receptor 5 or CCR5 is a plasma-membrane bound receptor proteins complex found on the surface of the white blood cells or the leukocytes in the immune system of humans. This surface protein complex is necessarily required for the passage of the HIV into the leukocyte so that the cell might get infected. Any damage in this surface protein is thus detrimental for the entry of the HIV into the immune cell, hence its infectivity.

This surface protein is necessary and highly important to be studied clinically and research purpose since any defect in this protein prevents the entry of HIV in to the cell. Hence, persons showing any damage to this surface protein or any mutation which makes them fail to express this surface protein make them immune to HIV infection. Hence, any deleterious mutation causing deletion of the 32 base pairs in the CCR gene (thus making it CCRdelta32) make the person immune to HIV.

Hence, this mutation is important to be studied in both pre-clinically and clinically and hence, individuals homozygous for this mutation provide a chance to the investigators to understand the mode of infection by HIV in humans.

This strategy helps the researchers and clinicals to develop therapeutics to prevent/down-regulate HIV infection.