InquiryBoth the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) viruses evolved from Africa and have a long biological history. Both HIV and SIV are retroviruses that invade host cells and reproduce using their cellular transcriptional machinery. They are highly variable, making it difficult to produce specific vaccines and posing a significant threat to human health.
Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the mainstay of treatment for HIV-infected patients, is effective in suppressing HIV replication and reducing viral load to undetectable levels in the blood. Despite the success of this approach, HIV can rapidly rebound once the drug is discontinued due to the presence of a latent reservoir of the virus. Therefore finding a durable cure is the main obstacle to overcome.
How we use spatial omics to detect and study HIV and SIV
To completely eradicate HIV from a patient's body and to further therapeutic interventions, it is important to determine the biological nature of the latent reservoir of the virus and the effective infected cells in tissues including the gastrointestinal tract and lymphatic system. CD Genomics offers a highly specific and sensitive RNA in situ hybridization technique. Using this powerful technology, our clients can study HIV and SIV in the cellular and tissue environment.
What our customers get
- Allows the identification and determination of specific cell types and tissues infected with HIV and SIV at single-cell resolution in a complete morphological context.
- When plasma viral load is low or undetectable, RNA sequences of HIV and SIV can still be specifically detected using RNA detection technology that identifies individual viral particles and infected cells.
- Viral RNA in viral particles of HIV and SIV during the replication cycle and viral genomic RNA or mRNA in infected cells, as well as proviral DNA integrated into the nucleus of infected cells, can be detected differentially.
Sample requirements
Human, monkey
- FFPE tissue sections
- Fresh frozen tissue sections
Technical advantages
We do it better
CD Genomics offers RNA in situ hybridization that allows our customers to visualize and quantify HIV and SIV RNA at single copy resolution. This allows our customers to identify and anatomically localize HIV-infected cells in detail and understand the effect of tissue environment on viral replication and viral gene expression. In addition to this, we can combine RNA in situ hybridization techniques with immunohistochemistry to characterize HIV-infected tissues. This is critical for our clients to accurately assess the pathogenesis of HIV infection and develop treatment strategies to eliminate HIV.
