Masters Degrees (Virology)
Recent Submissions
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Genetic characterization of viral blips in patients following suppressive HIV ART.
(2021)Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has resulted in the decline of HIV-related mortality worldwide. On initiating treatment, most patients can suppress plasma viral RNA to undetectable levels (<20 copies/mL). Patients on ART ... -
The role of Nef-mediated SERINC5 down-regulation on HIV-1 disease progression.
(2021)HIV-1 Nef is a small accessory protein that plays a vital role in enhancing HIV-1 pathogenesis, evidenced by a strongly attenuated disease course following infection with a virus with gross Nef defects. Nef has multiple ... -
Cytotoxic and anti-proliferative effects of Moringa Oleifera Lam.on hela cells.
(2021)Moringa oleifera Lam., known to most as the ‘drumstick tree’, is a non-fastidious botanical that is native to India, and is cultivated on a global scale as a sustainable crop, for sustenance, medicinal and beauty ... -
Measuring HLA-B allele expression across differential cell types.
(2018)Background: The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region has shown to have the strongest disease associations and recent studies have shown that expression levels of these HLA molecules play a major role in the clinical course ... -
Identifying novel transcriptional regulatory elements of HLA-A alleles through the evaluation of the 5’ un-translated region sequences.
(2020)Sub-Saharan Africa holds approximately half the population living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the world (~19.6 million), of which around 7.2 million cases are found in South Africa. Although antiretroviral ... -
Identifying the cellular HIV-1 reservoir in lymph nodes of antiretroviral therapy suppressed individuals.
(2019)HIV-1 infection is suppressed but not cured in the face of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Pinpointing the cellular HIV-1 reservoir, which allows HIV-1 to persist, is key to the eradication of the virus. Lymph nodes are known ... -
The differential influence of HIV-1 subtype C,nucleoside analog resistance mutations: K65R, A62V, S68N and Y115F susceptibility to tenofovir.
(2019)The use of Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumerate (TDF) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection has been recommended for the first-line as well as a second-line antiretroviral regimen in South Africa, due to its high antiretroviral ... -
Genetic and functional diversity of central nervous system (CNS) derived Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) tat from Tuberculous Meningitis (TBM) patients.
(2018)INTRODUCTION Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transactivator of transcription (tat) is a regulatory gene that encodes the transactivator of transcription Tat protein. The Tat effectively increases the activity ... -
Functional characterization of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype C transmitted/founder (T/F) viruses long terminal repeat (LTR) variants and association with disease outcome.
(2020)Background: The persistence of latent viral reservoirs is a major roadblock to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) cure development. Latent reservoirs harbour transcriptionally silent yet replication competent ... -
Sequence analysis of an HIV-1 subtype C acutely infected cohort from Durban, South Africa.
(2018)The Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a global public health concern. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimated that 36.9 million people were infected with HIV globally at the end of 2017. Almost 20% of these ... -
The influence of HIV-1 genomic target region selection and sequence length on the accuracy of inferred phylogenies and clustering outcomes.
(2017)To improve the methodology of HIV-1 cluster analysis, we addressed how analysis of HIV-1 clustering is associated with parameters that can affect the outcome of viral clustering. The extent of HIV clustering, tree ... -
Prevalence of minority HIV-1 drug resistant quasi-species in children patients at virologic failure in a rural KwaZulu-Natal cohort.
(2016)Abstract available in PDF file. -
In vitro testing of the predicted viral fitness landscape for the HIV-1 Nef protein.
(2015)Abstract available in PDF file. -
Characterizing protease inhibitor failure in HIV-1 subtype C, using ultra deep pyro-sequencing and homology modelling.
(2015)The extensive roll-out of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has significantly improved the life expectancy for HIV-1 infected individuals in South Africa. Despite the inclusion of potent Protease Inhibitors (PIs) ... -
Minority HIV-1 drug resistance mutations in patients failing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
(2014)Abstract not available. -
Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (ASPCR) to detect resistance mutations in minor variants of HIV-1 subtype C in patients failing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
(2014)The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) as one of the preferred first-line antiretrovirals (ARVs). TDF and Abacavir (ABC) were introduced into the South African National ... -
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors-associated mutations in the RNase H region of HIV-1 isolates in South African adults and children failing highly active antiretroviral therapy.
(2012)Background: The South African national treatment program includes NRTIs in both first and second line highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens. Recently, mutations in the RNase H domain have been associated with ... -
An investigation of virologic failure and the spectrum of drug resistance mutations in a paediatric ART programme in rural KZN, SA.
(2014)Background Better understanding of drug resistance patterns in HIV-infected children on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is required to inform public health policies in high prevalence settings. The aim of this study was to ... -
Molecular epidemiology of HIV-2 infection in KwaZulu-Natal Provnce, South Africa.
(2013)Infection with HIV-2 has important implications for the diagnosis, treatment and management of the infection. The objective of this study was to describe the seroprevalence and molecular epidemiology of HIV-2 in KwaZulu-Natal ...