St. James Ballroom
Transcytosis as a Mechanism of HIV Entry into Endocervical Tissue: Evaluating Data in Stages (303889)
Meegan R. Anderson, Northwestern University
Ann M. Carias, Northwestern University
*Angela Fought, Northwestern University
Thomas J. Hope, Northwestern University
Keywords: Modeling techniques, GEE, Negative Binomial and Poisson Models, Zero Inflation
For infection in women, HIV must penetrate the reproductive tissues to access the underlying cells. The mechanism of HIV entry in tissues, especially endocervical tissue, is unknown, but one hypothesis is through transcytosis, the transfer of molecules through cells. Utilizing explant tissues, we investigated two transcytosis inhibitors to examine if virus entry was impeded compared to controls. First, after exposing the tissue to HIV, we counted particles on or in the tissue. We conducted the analysis (using SAS v9.4) by selecting the best model for the data between a Poisson or negative binomial generalized estimating equation (GEE), depending if the data were over dispersed, and assessing if zero inflation was needed. Second, to identify how many virions penetrated tissue, a binomial GEE was performed, where each particle was the unit of measure. Lastly, we wanted to evaluate virion depth and performed a gamma GEE. Although the analysis initially sounded simple the process was an educational opportunity in a myriad of ways and our team was able to illustrate that HIV entry into endocervical cells occurs via transcytosis.