Rapid evolution of HIV-1 to functional CD8⁺ T cell responses in humanized BLT mice.

ABSTRACT: The development of mouse/human chimeras through the engraftment of human immune cells and tissues into immunodeficient mice, including the recently described humanized BLT (bone marrow, liver, thymus) mouse model, holds great promise to facilitate the in vivo study of human immune responses. However, little data exist regarding the extent to which cellular immune responses in humanized mice accurately reflect those seen in humans. We infected humanized BLT mice with HIV-1 as a model pathogen and characterized HIV-1-specific immune responses and viral evolution during the acute phase of infection. HIV-1-specific CD8(+) T cell responses in these mice were found to closely resemble those in humans in terms of their specificity, kinetics, and immunodominance. Viral sequence evolution also reve

SUBMITTER: Dudek TE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3685142 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature