Generation of Simian-Tropic HIV-1 by Restriction Factor Evasion
Theodora Hatziioannou,1
Michael Princiotta,2
Michael Piatak, Jr.,2
Fang Yuan,2
Fengwen Zhang,1
Jeffrey D. Lifson,2
Paul D. Bieniasz1*
Because HIV-1 does not infect most nonhuman primates, animal modeling of human HIV infection and AIDS has primarily consisted of experimentally infecting macaques with related simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVMAC). However, the usefulness of such models is limited by the substantial divergence between SIVMAC and HIV-1. We derived an HIV-1-based virus that includes only small portions of SIVMAC yet replicates robustly in both transformed and primary rhesus macaque T cells. Derivation of simian-tropic HIV-1 (stHIV-1) has important implications for understanding primate lentivirus zoonosis and should allow the development of improved animal models for studies of AIDS and the evaluation of vaccines and treatments.
1 Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and Rockefeller University, 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
2 AIDS Vaccine Program, SAIC Frederick, Incorporated, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pbienias{at}adarc.org
