For its part, the laboratory/technology platform "Imaging of Infection and Immunity” (L3i) studies:
- the dynamics of transmission and dissemination of pathogens,
- the dynamics of the response of the host to the infection,
- the distribution and impact of treatments. One of the aims of the platform is to map the diffusion of antiretroviral drugs and to assess its impact on viral replication. One of the hypotheses of the persistence of HIV replication is the poor diffusion of anti-retroviral compounds leading to the formation of pharmacological sanctuaries.
To this end, this laboratory is equipped with a Positron Emission Tomography (TEP) system coupled with Tomodensitometry TEP/TDM. It is a non-invasive in vivo imaging technique that provides functional or metabolic information, after injection of radio-tracers, and also morphological of the whole body. This advanced technology is used routinely in the hospital services of nuclear medicine. The technology transfer from the preclinical environment to the clinic can be facilitated because our system is a clinical camera.
The same laboratory also holds a bi-photonic electron microscope specifically adapted to accommodate non-human primates. It is a unique equipment in the world.