Concordance between two phenotypic assays and ultradeep pyrosequencing for determining HIV-1 tropism

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2011 Jun;55(6):2831-6. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00091-11. Epub 2011 Apr 4.

Abstract

There have been few studies on the concordance between phenotypic assays for predicting human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) coreceptor usage. The sensitivity of ultradeep pyrosequencing combined with genotyping tools is similar to that of phenotypic assays for detecting minor CXCR4-using variants. We evaluated the agreement between two phenotypic assays, the Toulouse tropism test (TTT) and the Trofile assay, and ultradeep pyrosequencing for determining the tropism of HIV-1 quasispecies. The concordance between the TTT and Trofile assays was assessed for 181 samples successfully phenotyped by both assays. The TTT was 86% concordant with the standard Trofile assay and 91.7% with its enhanced-sensitivity version. The concordance between phenotypic characterization of HIV-1 tropism and ultradeep pyrosequencing genotypic prediction was further studied in selected samples. The HIV-1 tropism inferred from ultradeep pyrosequencing of 11 samples phenotyped as X4 and dualtropic and 12 phenotyped as R5-tropic agreed closely with the results of phenotyping. However, ultradeep pyrosequencing detected minor CXCR4-using variants in 3 of 12 samples phenotyped as R5-tropic. Ultradeep pyrosequencing also detected minor CXCR4-using variants that had been missed by direct sequencing in 6 of 9 samples phenotyped as X4-tropic but genotyped as R5-tropic by direct sequencing. Ultradeep pyrosequencing was 87% concordant with the Trofile and TTT phenotypic assays and was in the same range of sensitivity (0.4%) than these two phenotypic assays (0.3 to 0.5%) for detecting minor CXCR4-using variants. Ultradeep pyrosequencing provides a new way to improve the performance of genotypic prediction of HIV-1 tropism to match that of the phenotypic assays.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • CCR5 Receptor Antagonists
  • HIV-1 / genetics
  • HIV-1 / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Phenotype
  • Receptors, CXCR4 / physiology
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Viral Tropism*

Substances

  • CCR5 Receptor Antagonists
  • CXCR4 protein, human
  • Receptors, CXCR4