A novel small animal model to study the replication of simian foamy virus in vivo.

Preclinical evaluation in a small animal model would help the development of gene therapies and vaccines based on foamy virus vectors. The establishment of persistent, non-pathogenic infection with the prototype foamy virus in mice and rabbits has been described previously. To extend this spectrum of available animal models, hamsters were inoculated with infectious cell supernatant or bioballistically with a foamy virus plasmid. In addition, a novel foamy virus from a rhesus macaque was isolated and characterised genetically. Hamsters and mice were infected with this new SFVmac isolate to evaluate whether hamsters are also susceptible to infection. Both hamsters and mice developed humoral responses to either virus subtype. Virus integration and replication in different animal tissues were analysed by PCR and co-cultivation. The results strongly indicate establishment of a persistent infection in hamsters. These studies provide a further small animal model for studying FV-based vectors in addition to the established models.