Vaccine-induced protection from infection of mice by chimeric human immunodeficiency virus type 1, EcoHIV/NL4-3

EcoHIV/NL4-3 is a chimeric human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) that can productively infect mice. This study tests the utility of EcoHIV/NL4-3 infection to reveal protective immune responses to an HIV-1 vaccine. Immunocompetent mice were first immunized with VRC 4306 which encodes subtype B consensus sequences of gag, pol, and nef and then were infected by EcoHIV/NL4-3. Anti-Gag antibodies were sampled during immunization and infection. The extent of EcoHIV/NL4-3 infection in spleen cells and peritoneal macrophages was determined by quantitative real-time PCR (QPCR).

Although antibody titres were not significantly different in control and vaccinated groups, VRC 4306 immunization induced protective responses that significantly reduced virus burden in both lymphocyte and macrophage compartments. These results indicate that EcoHIV/NL4-3 infection can be controlled by HIV-1 vaccine-induced responses, introducing a small animal model to test vaccine efficacy against HIV-1 infection.