The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) -336A>G in the CD209 promoter has been demonstrated to regulate promoter activity and to be associated with several important infectious diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Dengue fever.
It has been proposed that DC-SIGN targets HIV to a nondegradative compartment within DCs and DC-SIGN-expressing cells, allowing incoming virus to persist for several days before infecting target cells.
In the early events of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, immature dendritic cells (DCs) expressing the DC-specific intercellular adhesion molecule 3-grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) receptor capture small amounts of HIV-1 on mucosal surfaces and spread viral infection to CD4(+) T cells in lymph nodes (22, 34, 45).
Association of DC-SIGN promoter polymorphism with increased risk for parenteral, but not mucosal, acquisition of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection.