Latent HIV-1 infection of resting CD4⁺ T cells in the humanized Rag2⁻/⁻ γc⁻/⁻ mouse

J Virol. 2012 Jan;86(1):114-20. doi: 10.1128/JVI.05590-11. Epub 2011 Oct 19.

Abstract

Persistent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection of resting CD4⁺ T cells, unaffected by antiretroviral therapy (ART), provides a long-lived reservoir of HIV infection. Therapies that target this viral reservoir are needed to eradicate HIV-1 infection. A small-animal model that recapitulates HIV-1 latency in resting CD4⁺ T cells may accelerate drug discovery and allow the rational design of nonhuman primate (NHP) or human studies. We report that in humanized Rag2⁻/⁻ γ(c)⁻/⁻ (hu-Rag2⁻/⁻ γ(c)⁻/⁻) mice, as in humans, resting CD4⁺ T cell infection (RCI) can be quantitated in pooled samples of circulating cells and tissue reservoirs (e.g., lymph node, spleen, bone marrow) following HIV-1 infection with the CCR5-tropic JR-CSF strain and suppression of viremia by ART. Replication-competent virus was recovered from pooled resting CD4⁺ T cells in 7 of 16 mice, with a median frequency of 8 (range, 2 to 12) infected cells per million T cells, demonstrating that HIV-1 infection can persist despite ART in the resting CD4⁺ T cell reservoir of hu-Rag2⁻/⁻ γ(c)⁻/⁻ mice. This model will allow rapid preliminary assessments of novel eradication approaches and combinatorial strategies that may be challenging to perform in the NHP model or in humans, as well as a rigorous analysis of the effect of these interventions in specific anatomical compartments.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-HIV Agents / therapeutic use
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / cytology
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / virology*
  • Cell Cycle Checkpoints
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / deficiency
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Female
  • HIV Infections / drug therapy
  • HIV Infections / immunology
  • HIV Infections / virology*
  • HIV-1 / drug effects
  • HIV-1 / genetics
  • HIV-1 / immunology
  • HIV-1 / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Mice*
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Virus Latency*

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Rag2 protein, mouse