AMINO ACIDS: the building blocks of proteins. Although there are hundreds of amino acids, only 20 are ordinarily found in proteins.
ANTIBODIES: Protein chains produced by the immune system that bind to, and often neutralize, viruses and other invaders. Viral antibodies are a sign that the virus is, or has been, present.
ATLV: Adult T-cell leukemia virus, the name given by Japanese scientists to the virus that they discovered, which is the same as Robert Gallo`s HTLV-1.
B-CELL: The immune system cell involved in producing antibodies. A line of cancerous B-cells, called BJAB, was used by the French to grow the AIDS virus called LAV.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid; long chains of chemical compounds called nucleotides that contain genetic code for assembling proteins. The DNA containing the genetic code for the AIDS virus has about 9,200 nucleotides. By contrast, the DNA code for a human being has about 3 billion nucleotides.
ENZYME: Biochemically active protein that regulates viral and other biochemical activities. The enzyme the AIDS virus uses to reproduce itself is called reverse transcriptase.
H9: a permanent line of T-cells created in Gallo`s lab by cloning a single T-cell from an established T-cell line called HUT78. When the H9 cells began to multiply, they were infected with the pooled AIDS virus that became known as HTLV-3B.
HIV: Human immunodeficiency virus, the generic name for the virus that most scientists believe causes AIDS.
HTLVA: The name given to what may have been an AIDS virus isolate used in experiments in Robert Gallo`s lab in early 1984. The derivation of the term is unclear because the existence of such a virus was never publicly acknowledged. HTLV-1: Human T-cell leukemia virus isolated in Gallo`s lab. The first retrovirus associated with cancer in humans, it infects helper T-cells and causes them to proliferate wildly. Japanese scientists established a connection between HTLV-1 and adult T-cell leukemia.
HTLV-2: Variant of HTLV-1, also isolated in Gallo`s lab. HTLV-2 was found in 1981 in a patient code-named MO. It has since been discovered in fewer than a half-dozen patients with an extremely rare disease called hairy cell T-cell leukemia, but scientists are unsure whether the virus is the cause of the disease.
HTLV-3: Gallo`s original name for the human retrovirus that causes AIDS. The name was later changed to HIV after it became clear the AIDS virus was not related to HTLV-1 and HTLV-2.
HTLV-3B: Gallo`s principal AIDS virus isolate, reportedly obtained by pooling tissue culture fluids from 10 individuals in the H9 T-cell line. Several distinct AIDS virus DNAs have been cloned from HTLV-3B that are genetically indistinguishable from the French AIDS virus called LAV-1.
HUT78: Human T-cell line established in the late 1970s by NCI researcher Adi Gazdar. The progenitor of the Gallo cell line called H9, HUT78 was also used in Gallo`s lab to grow the French AIDS virus called LAV-1.
LAV: Lymphadenopathy-associated virus, the name originally given by scientists at the Pasteur Institute to the AIDS virus they discovered in 1983. The original French isolate, found in T-cells from Frederic Brugiere, the patient known as BRU, was called LAV-1. Like HTLV-3B, LAV-1 contains several distinct AIDS virus DNAs, at least two of which are genetically
indistinguishable from variants cloned from Gallo`s HTLV-3B.
LENTIVIRUS: A class of slow-acting retroviruses including the AIDS virus. Before AIDS, lenti-retroviruses had been found only in animals.
LEUKEMIA: Cancer marked by the uncontrolled proliferation of white blood cells which can take several different forms depending on which cells have become cancerous. Cancers of lymphocytes such as T- and B-cells outside the blood are lymphomas.
MOV: The name used in Gallo`s lab for an AIDS virus isolate in late 1983 and 1984. The initials apparently stand for ”MO Variant,” stemming from the belief among Gallo`s assistants that the AIDS virus was genetically similar to HTLV-2. What became of MOV is unclear, because its existence was never publicly disclosed.
NUCLEOTIDES: Chemical building blocks of DNA and RNA. DNA is composed of four nucleotides: adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine. RNA substitutes uracil for thymine.
PROTEINS: Chains of amino acids varying greatly in size and shape. Enzymes and hormones are biochemically active proteins. The AIDS virus has several structural and regulatory proteins including its main core protein, called p-24, and its envelope protein, gp120. The numbers refer to approximate molecular weights (in thousands).
RETROVIRUS: Virus whose genetic code is written in RNA rather than DNA. Retroviruses reproduce by using reverse transcriptase to copy RNA into DNA.
REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE: The enzyme retroviruses manufacture to enable them to reproduce inside a host cell.
RNA: Ribonucleic acid; single-stranded chain of nucleotides that contains the genetic code for some viruses, including retroviruses. Various forms of RNA also assemble proteins according to instructions contained in DNA.
SERUM: The pale yellow fluid left over after the cells have been removed from blood. It is used for testing for viral antibodies.
T-CELLS: The ”controllers” of the human immune system. Helper T-cells, also known as T-4 cells, direct the production of antibodies by B-cells. Suppressor T-cells signal the immune system to ”stand down” after a virus or other invader has been vanquished.
Ti7.4: Human T-cell line established at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston. Along with HUT78, it was used in Gallo`s lab to grow the French AIDS virus called LAV-1.
VIRUS: Infectious organism consisting of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA, and proteins, sometimes contained in protective envelope of fatty material. Some viruses are harmless; others cause disease by damaging the cells they infect.
WHITE BLOOD CELL: Immune system cells that circulate in the blood and of which there are several types, including the lymphocytes called T-cells and B- cells.
