Viremia and AIDS in rhesus macaques after intramuscular inoculation of plasmid DNA encoding full-length SIVmac239

We have succeeded in stably maintaining the entire genome of SIVmac239 as a plasmid clone. Supercoiled proviral plasmid DNA was inoculated intramuscul arly into two adult rhesus macaques and into a neonate. All three animals b ecame viremic and seroconverted. Viral kinetics mere followed prospectively by quantitative competitive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reactio n (QC-RT-PCR), measurement of proviral DNA load in peripheral blood mononuc lear cells (PBMCs) by PCR, and virus isolation by cocultivation. The infant developed high virus loads and succumbed to AIDS and SIV-associated nephro pathy at 10 weeks postinoculation. Both adults are still living but have pr ogressed to AIDS; one adult has also developed severe thrombocytopenia. We conclude that infection through intramuscular inoculation of cloned plasmid DNA encoding the entire proviral genome is reproducible and will provide a useful tool for studying viral pathogenesis.