Abstract: Series 100, Lecture 6

The Harvey Lectures Series 100 (2004—2005)

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Lecture #6: Thursday, April 21, 2005 — Time and Location

Innate Cellular Resistance to Retroviruses

Joseph G Sodroski, MD


Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease Cancer Immunology and AIDS

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Boston, Massachusetts

The cells of certain mammalian species are resistant to infection by particular retroviruses. For example, Old World monkeys cannot be infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1); human cells likewise resist infection by some strains of mouse leukemia virus. These blocks to infectionare mediated by a protein called TRIM5alpha, which resides in cytoplasmic bodies. The role of TRIM5alpha and cytoplasmic bodies in protecting the host against virus infections will be discussed.