Description
The study recapitulates, through in vitro micropatterned co-cultures, interactions between HIV-infected T-lymphocytes and intestinal epithelial cells in order to investigate the mechanisms underlying the disruption of normal epithelial cell and barrier function during HIV infection. The co-culture method simplifies observation/monitoring of the two cell types and is particularly suited for laser microdissection-based retrieval of the epithelial cells for downstream gene expressions studies.