Cell Rep: Multi-group studies reveal the detailed characteristics and heterogeneity of HIV-1 infected cells.

August 6, 2020 // -- In order to eliminate HIV infection, it is important to clarify the detailed characteristics and heterogeneity of HIV-1 infected cells in the body, a recent study published in the international journal Cell Reports, scientists from the University of Tokyo and other institutions said that the use of genetically modified HIV-1 to infect human-based mouse models of hematopoietic stem cell transplants or hopefully reveal in the body the characteristics of cells producing HIV-1.
Photo Source: In the SATO Kei article, researchers conducted a multi-histological analysis of HIV-1-infected cells that could provide a comprehensive survey of the characteristics of biological samples, and the results could help researchers develop new treatments for HIV-1.
's newly developed histological techniques may be a powerful tool for identifying the characteristics of HIV-1 infected cells, however, most of the CD4-T cells in the infected body may not be infected, so transcriptions of a large number of CD4-T cells in the body may not reflect cells that simply produce HIV-1.
the study, researchers studied human-based mouse models of human hematopoietic stem cell transplants that maintain human white blood cell production with relatively stable immune conditions in the body, as well as HIV-1 with replication potential; Technology to investigate the genome and transcriptometological characteristics of the virus, the researchers carried out four analyses: 1) the first use of micro-drop digital PCR can reveal the presence of potential virus libraries in infected human-based mouse bodies; The ability to explain that HIV-1 prioritizes integration into open chromatin regions, as revealed by the association between the metastase genetic modification of integrated endpoints and virus production; 3) digital RNA sequencing can quantify the absolute number of copies of viruses produced in HIV-1 cells in the body, which further identifies genes expressed by differences between infected and uninfected cells;
Finally, the researchers stress that, as far as we know, this study describes for the first time the multiple aspects of the cells that produce HIV-1, and the first time this study has investigated the properties and heterogeneity of HIV-1 infected cells in the body.
original source: Hirofumi Aso, Shumpei Nagaoka, Eiryo Kawakami, et al. Multiomics Investigation Revealing the Features of HIV-1-Infected Cells In Vivo, Cell Reports (2020). doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107887.