Genetic association of G2/M checkpoint genes with susceptibility to HIV-1 infection and AIDS progression in northern Chinese MSM population

Background: MSM has a high risk of HIV infection. Previous studies showed that the cell cycle regulation played an important role in HIV-1 infection, especially in G2/M checkpoint. The ATR, Chk1, Cdc25C and CDK1 are key genes in G2/M checkpoint. However, the association between the SNPs of these genes and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection and AIDS progression remains unknown. Results 42 tSNPs of G2/M checkpoint genes were genotyped to analyze the association between these tSNPs and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection and AIDS progression among MSM (529 HIV − 1 seropositive men and 529 HIV-1 seronegative men) in northern China. The results showed that rs34660854-A and rs75368165-A in ATR gene and rs3756766-A in Cdc25C gene could increase the risk of HIV-1 infection (P = 0.049, P = 0.020 and P = 0.010, respectively), and ATR rs75069062 and Chk1 rs10893405 were significantly associated with AIDS progression (P = 0.026 and P = 0.029, respectively). Besides, rs34660854 and rs75368165 in ATR gene, rs12576279 and rs540436 in Chk1 gene, rs3756766 in Cdc25C gene and rs139245206 in CDK1 gene were significantly associated with HIV-1 infection under different models (P < 0.05). Conclusions The genetic variants of G2/M checkpoint genes had a molecular impact on the genesis of HIV-1 infection and AIDS progression in northern Chinese MSM population.