Microarray Expression Analysis of SIV infection of Sooty Mangabeys

Natural SIV infection of sooty mangabeys (SMs) does not progress to disease despite chronic virus replication. In contrast to pathogenic SIV infection of rhesus macaques (RMs), chronic SIV infection of SMs is characterized by low immune activation. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying this phenotype, we longitudinally assessed host gene expression in SIV-infected SMs and RMs. We found that acute SIV infection of SMs is consistently associated with a robust innate immune response, including widespread up-regulation of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). Our findings indicate that active immune regulatory mechanisms, rather than intrinsically attenuated innate immune responses, underlie the low immuneactivation of chronically SIV-infected SMs. We infected 5 SMs with SIVsmm and assessed their gene expression in RNA derived from whole blood at 3,7,10,14,30 and 180 days post-infection using Rhesus Affymetrix GeneChips. As a comparison, we also analyzed gene expression in 4 RMs infected with SIVsmm, and 8 RMs infected with SIVmac239, a classical pathogenic SIV.