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About the Authors:
Jeremy Smedley
Affiliation: Laboratory Animal Sciences Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
Baris Turkbey
Affiliation: Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Marcelino L. Bernardo
Affiliation: Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Gregory Q. Del Prete
Affiliation: The AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
Jacob D. Estes
Affiliation: The AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
Gary L. Griffiths
Affiliation: Clinical Monitoring Research Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
Hisataka Kobayashi
Affiliation: Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Peter L. Choyke
Affiliation: Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Jeffrey D. Lifson
Affiliation: The AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
Brandon F. Keele
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: The AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
Introduction
Worldwide, there are an estimated 35.3 million people who are currently living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection [1]. The CDC estimates that approximately 49,000 new cases occurred in 2011 in the US alone, with the vast majority of transmissions (∼44,000) occurring across a mucosal barrier [2]. While homosexual transmission (male to male sexual contact) is the most common route of transmission in the US, heterosexual transmission is the predominant route of viral transmission globally [3]. The rate of HIV acquisition is affected by multiple factors that include transmission route, frequency of sexual contact, and the viral load of the infected partner. Recently, genetic analyses of primary infections have shown that in nearly 80% of sexual transmissions, infection in a new host is established by a single viral variant from among the diverse quasispecies present in a typical transmitting partner [4]–[9]. However, viral transmission rates increase dramatically when ulcerative or inflammatory conditions affecting the exposed mucosa are present [5]. Taken together, these data suggest that an intact mucosal barrier plays a key...