Modeling mucosal cell-associated HIV type 1 transmission in vitro

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Immunology
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Cell-associated HIV transmission is highly efficient, potentially 10-1000 times more effective than cell-free infection.
• This transmission route is critical for sexual and vertical spread of HIV-1.
• Current in vitro efficacy tests for vaccines and microbicides primarily focus on cell-free virus, neglecting cell-associated transmission.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review in vitro assays modeling mucosal cell-associated HIV transmission.
• To highlight the importance of these assays for understanding HIV-1 spread and developing prevention strategies.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on in vitro assays for cell-associated HIV transmission.
• Discussion of techniques including microscopy, immune cell cocultures, transcytosis assays, and mucosal tissue explant models.

Main Results:

• Various in vitro assays exist to model mucosal cell-associated HIV transmission.
• These assays utilize techniques like microscopy, cocultures, transcytosis models, and tissue explants.

Conclusions:

• Developing and utilizing authentic in vitro models for mucosal cell-associated HIV transmission is vital.
• Such models can identify targets for HIV prevention and rigorously test novel prevention strategies against cell-associated HIV-1.