Background
NOD.SCID common gamma chain (NSG) knockout mice have no functional adaptive immune system of their own and readily accept human CD34+ hematopoietic stem cell xenografts (SCID-hu). These SCID-hu represent a unique opportunity to study human adaptive immunological responses in a small rodent animal model. We have previously developed a cell based vaccine system utilizing a secreted form of heat shock protein gp96 along with HIV gag protein (293-gp96Ig-HIVgag).