David Haviland (David.Haviland at f9.n8012.z86.toadnet.org) wrote:
: I have a crazy question for the group here...
: As an immunologist I was intrigued with the transplantation of the human
: immune system into a SCID mouse. If memory serve, I thought Irving
: Weissman at Stanford had done this, got a Nature article out of it and
: a few Nightly New spots.
: Did I just miss something or was his approach able to provide any
: insights into the Pathology of AIDS? BAsically, what became of the
: study (and mice) after they were developed?
: Thanks in advance,David
: David L. Haviland, Ph.D.
: Washington University School of Medicine
: EM: haviland at kids.wustl.edu: alternate - david.haviland at f9.n8012.z86.toadnet.org
: ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
I am not an expert in the field, but your memory did not fail you. Since 1988,
a couple of SCIDhu mice were developed and infected with HIV, the latest being
described in a J. Exp. Med paper (Feb 1994). In a nutshell, these studies show
that intraimplant inoculation with HIV leads to infection of the implanted
human thymus, and that there is a depletion of thymocytes. Moreover, it has
been shown that an implanted human thymus can become infected after peripheral
exposure to HIV.
This is all I know on this one. I am not aware of any serious pathological
studies on the above mice. If somebody else knows better, I would appreciate
the info.
Toufic Renno
