@article{a1f3e4b927d54517882b7d98bdcf92ce,
title = "TFH cells accumulate in mucosal tissues of humanized-DRAG mice and are highly permissive to HIV-1",
abstract = "CD4+ T follicular helper cells (TFH) in germinal centers are required for maturation of B-cells. While the role of TFH-cells has been studied in blood and lymph nodes of HIV-1 infected individuals, its role in the mucosal tissues has not been investigated. We show that the gut and female reproductive tract (FRT) of humanized DRAG mice have a high level of human lymphocytes and a high frequency of TFH (CXCR5+PD-1++) and precursor-TFH (CXCR5+PD-1+) cells. The majority of TFH-cells expressed CCR5 and CXCR3 and are the most permissive to HIV-1 infection. A single low-dose intravaginal HIV-1 challenge of humanized DRAG mice results in 100% infectivity with accumulation of TFH-cells mainly in the Peyer's patches and FRT. The novel finding of TFH-cells in the FRT may contribute to the high susceptibility of DRAG mice to HIV-1 infection. This mouse model thus provides new opportunities to study TFH-cells and to evaluate HIV-1 vaccines.",
author = "Atef Allam and Sai Majji and Kristina Peachman and Linda Jagodzinski and Jiae Kim and Silvia Ratto-Kim and Wathsala Wijayalath and Melanie Merbah and Kim, {Jerome H.} and Michael, {Nelson L.} and Alving, {Carl R.} and Sofia Casares and Mangala Rao",
note = "Funding Information: The authors thank Doris Thelian for her help with the flow cytometry and data analysis; Mathew Creegan for cell sorting; Michael Eller for flow core facilities; Elaine Morrison for inoculation, bleeding, and mouse husbandry; Agnes-Laurence Chenine for help in obtaining the human tissue and Hendrik Streeck for reading the manuscript and providing critical comments. This work was supported by a cooperative agreement (W81XWH-11-2-0174) between the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and the US Department of Defense. Jiae Kim is supported by a NIAID, NIH (AI102725) grant.",
year = "2015",
month = jun,
day = "2",
doi = "10.1038/srep10443",
language = "English",
volume = "5",
journal = "Scientific Reports",
issn = "2045-2322",
publisher = "Nature Research",
}