Dynamics of R5 WT and <i>vpr</i>-deficient HIV-1 infection in humanized mice.

<p>(A) Viral load in infected humanized mice. The amounts of viral RNA in the plasma of R5 WT HIV-1-infected mice (n = 30) and R5 <i>vpr</i>-deficient HIV-1-infected mice (n = 23) were routinely quantified. The horizontal broken line indicates the detection limit of the assay (1,600 copies/ml). (B and C) Infected cells in humanized mice. HIV-1-infected cells in the spleen of R5 WT HIV-1-infected mice (n = 19), R5 <i>vpr</i>-deficient HIV-1-infected mice (n = 10), and mock-infected mice (n = 10) at 7 dpi were analyzed by flow cytometry using an anti-HIV-1 p24 antibody. The percentages of p24⁺ cells in CD3⁺ CD8⁻ cells (B) and in each CD4⁺ T cell subset (C, left panel), and the MFI of p24 in p24⁺ cells of each CD4⁺ T cell subset (C, middle panel) are shown. Representative histograms are shown on the right panel. In panel B, the numbers in the histogram indicate the positivity. In panel C, the numbers in the histogram indicate the percentage of positive cells (left) and MFI values (right). Statistical difference was determined by Welch's <i>t</i> test, and statistically significant differences between WT HIV-1 versus HIV-1<i>Δvpr</i> (<i>P</i><0.05) are shown with red asterisks. NS, no statistical significance. Data represent mean ± SEM.