Development of a mouse model for HIV/AIDS.

A small animal model would be very valuable for HIV/AIDS vaccine testing, investigating HIV pathophysiology, and exploring anti-HIV therapeutics. Unfortunately, HIV does not replicate in mouse cells. Provision of mouse cells with human CD4, CCR5 and cyclin T1 (cycT1) has uncovered a block to HIV assembly or release. Since mouse-human cell fusions allow viral replication, mouse cells lack at least one critical factor that permits completion of the viral life cycle. To identify this factor(s) we are employing 2 similar genetic approaches. Each cell line of a panel of monochromosomal mouse-human somatic cell hybrids was individually transduced with an HIV vector encoding both cycT1 and blasticidin resistance (HIV-CIB). Each was then transfected with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) G protein and measurable virus was recovered from only the hybrid-containing chromosome 2. This was verified with an M-tropic envelope and was shown to be specific to HIV. In addition, the amount of p24 release from that hybrid was substantially greater than that from the parent. A second cell line expressing chromosome 2 had a similar phenotype. CycT1 has been introduced into one chromosome 2 line to monitor the spread of HIV. In a related but separate approach, an entire collection of approximately 500 mouse-human microcell hybrids was transduced with HIV-CIB and broken down into manageable pools. Virus was similarly recovered as above from a few of the pools. Those pools were then broken down to clones and several cell clones have been identified that allow virus release. Revertants that no longer have the human chromosome are now being tested for loss of phenotype. Clones will then be tested for ability to support both HIV replication and Gag processing. Human chromosomal content of the clones of greatest interest will be determined by STS content analysis. Results from the 2 approaches are expected to be in agreement and may provide direction for an expression cloning approach.