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Journal of Virology, December 2001, p. 11417-11425, Vol. 75, No. 23
Harvard AIDS Institute and Department
of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public
Health, Boston, Massachusetts
Received 18 May 2001/Accepted 23 August 2001
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype C is
responsible for more than 56% of all infections in the HIV and AIDS pandemic. It is the predominant subtype in the rapidly expanding epidemic in southern Africa. To develop a relevant model that would
facilitate studies of transmission, pathogenesis, and vaccine development for this subtype, we generated SHIVMJ4, a
simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) chimera based on HIV-1
subtype C. SHIVMJ4 contains the majority of
env, the entire second exon of tat, and a
partial sequence of the second exon of rev, all derived from a CCR5-tropic, primary isolate envelope clone from southern Africa. SHIVMJ4 replicated efficiently in human, rhesus,
and pig-tailed macaque peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in
vitro but not in CEMx174 cells. To assess in vivo infectivity,
SHIVMJ4 was intravenously inoculated into four rhesus
macaques (Macaca mulatta). All four animals became infected
as determined through virus isolation, PCR analysis, and viral loads of
107 to 108 copies of viral RNA per ml of plasma
during the primary infection phase. We have established a CCR5-tropic
SHIVMJ4/rhesus macaque model that may be useful in the
studies of HIV-1 subtype C immunology and biology and may also
facilitate the evaluation of vaccines to control the spread of HIV-1
subtype C in southern Africa and elsewhere.
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.23.11417-11425.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Infectious Simian/Human Immunodeficiency Virus with
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Subtype C from an African
Isolate: Rhesus Macaque Model
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Immunology and
Infectious Diseases Department, Harvard School of Public Health, 651 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 432-0975. Fax: (617)
739-8348. E-mail: messex{at}hsph.harvard.edu.
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