Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026

Ex Vivo Infection of Human Lymphoid Tissue and Female Genital Mucosa with Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 and Histoculture
Published on: October 12, 2018
Retrocyclin RC-101 blocks HIV-1 transmission across cervical mucosa in an organ culture
Phalguni Gupta1, Deena Ratner, Ming Ding
1Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. pgupta1@pitt.edu
Background:
Cervical tissue-based organ cultures have been used successfully to evaluate microbicides for toxicity and antiviral activity. The antimicrobial peptide retrocyclin RC-101 has been shown to have potent anti-HIV activity in cell culture.
Objective:
To evaluate RC-101 in organ culture for toxicity and its ability to block HIV-1 transmission across cervical mucosa.
Methods:
A cervical tissue-based organ culture was used to measure antiviral activity of RC-101. Cytotoxicity in tissues was determined by immunostaining of cellular proteins and by measuring inflammatory cytokines using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Luminex technology.
Results:
RC-101 blocked transmission of both R5 and X4 HIV-1 across cervical mucosa in this organ culture model. Furthermore, film-formulated RC-101 exhibited potent antiviral activity in organ culture. Such antiviral activity of RC-101 was retained in the presence of semen and vaginal fluid. RC-101 showed no cytotoxicity in cervical tissue. Furthermore, RC-101 did not induce proinflammatory cytokine response in tissues. RC-101 also did not have any effect on natural killer cell activity and proliferation of CD4 and CD8 cells and did not show chemotactic activity.
Conclusions:
Therefore, because of strong antiviral activity and low cytotoxicity in cervical tissues, RC-101 should be considered as an excellent microbicide candidate against HIV-1.
More Related Videos
14:23A Restriction Enzyme Based Cloning Method to Assess the In vitro Replication Capacity of HIV-1 Subtype C Gag-MJ4 Chimeric Viruses
Published on: August 31, 2014
07:22A High-throughput Cre-Lox Activated Viral Membrane Fusion Assay to Identify Inhibitors of HIV-1 Viral Membrane Fusion
Published on: August 14, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Retroviruses
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers