Zheng N N, Daniels R S
Virology Division, National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK.
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2001 Nov 1;17(16):1501-6. doi: 10.1089/08892220152644205.
Here we report the construction and use of a full-length env gene-cassetting system, C2, based on the HIV-1 infectious molecular clone NL43. C2 produces virus with the same phenotype as NL43 but with 2-fold lower growth kinetics. The latter probably relates to alteration in the vpu and/or nef genes. C2-env chimeras of macrophage-tropic and T cell-tropic laboratory strains and primary HIV-1 isolates retain the glycoprotein-determined phenotypes of their parent viruses. The cassette will assist studies of HIV-1 pathogenesis.