title: Distinct rate and patterns of human CD4+ T-cell depletion in hu-PBL-SCID mice infected with different isolates of the human immunodeficiency virus.
abstract: The most fundamental question about infection with the human immunodeficiency virus is the mechanism by which infection leads to depletion of CD4+ T lymphocytes, a critical cell type for the regulation of both cellular and humoral immunity. We have studied this issue using a unique small-animal model that is highly susceptible to infection with human immunodeficiency virus. Severe combined immune deficient mice are transplanted with human peripheral blood leukocytes to create hu-PBL-SCID mice, which maintain human T and B lymphocytes and some elements of functional immunity. The hu-PBL-SCID mice respond to human immune deficiency virus infection by the relatively rapid loss of human CD4+ T cells, while other human cells remain unaffected. In this paper, we review evidence showing that different isolates of human immunodeficiency virus-2 cause different rates of CD4+ T-cell depletion and that these rates reflect differences in local spread of infection with lymphoid organs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 93037, USA.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Mosier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D018183:Transplantation Chimera