Abstract
Gelfoam(®) histoculture provides a valuable tool for experimental studies of normal and pathological tissue physiology. It allows us to understand cell-cell interactions by mirroring their original spatial relationship within body tissues. Gelfoam(®) histoculture can be employed to model host-pathogen interactions mimicking in vivo conditions in vitro. In the present chapter, we describe a protocol to process and infect lymphoid tissue explants with HIV and maintain them in Gelfoam(®) histoculture at the liquid-air interface. The Gelfoam(®) histocultures with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1-infected tissues have been used to further understand the biology of early HIV-1 pathogenesis, as well as a novel ex vivo platform to test the efficacy and toxicity of antiviral drugs.