Vaginal and Rectal HIV Transmission in Humanized Mice

Abstract

Mucosal HIV exposures account for the vast majority of the 2.5 million new HIV transmissions that occur annually worldwide. The ability to accurately model mucosal HIV transmission in vivo using animal models such as humanized mice is important for understanding this process. Humanized mice have shown to be susceptible to HIV infection after either vaginal or rectal exposure and have been utilized for a number of mucosal transmission studies with primary HIV isolates, laboratory HIV isolates and, more recently, transmitted founder HIV isolates. Many studies of mucosal HIV transmission in humanized mice have focused on testing prevention, interventions, as well as the transmission of antiviral drug-resistant strains. The breadth of the studies reviewed here emphasizes the versatility of these models for future research evaluating mucosal HIV transmission and its prevention.