Model System For HIV Infection
Though it does not produce severe immunodeficiency, Visna shares many characteristics with human immunodeficiency virus, including the establishment of persistent infection with chronic active lymphoproliferation; however, Visna virus does not infect T-lymphocytes. The relationship of Visna and HIV as lentiviruses was first published in 1985 by Visna researcher Janice E. Clements and colleagues in the HIV field. It has been postulated that the effects of Maedi-Visna infection in sheep are the "equivalent" of central nervous system disease and wasting syndrome found in human AIDS patients. Despite limited sequence homology with HIV, the genomic organization of Visna is very similar, allowing Visna infection to be used as an in vivo and in vitro model system for HIV infection.
Research using Visna was important in the identification and characterization of HIV. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that the AIDS virus was a retrovirus related to Visna and provided early clues as to the mechanism of HIV infection.
Read more about this topic: Visna Virus
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