Abstract

Abstract

Background: HIV-1 infected individuals are under chronic exposure to reactive oxygen species (ROS) considered to be instrumental in the progression of AIDS and the development of HIV-1 associated dementia (HAD). Astrocytes support neuronal function and protect them against cytotoxic substances including ROS. The protein HIV-1 Nef, a progression factor in AIDS pathology is abundantly expressed in astrocytes in patients with HAD, and thus may influence its functions.

Results: Endogenous expressed HIV-1 Nef leads to increased sensitivity of human astrocytes towards exogenous hydrogen peroxide but not towards TNF-alpha. Cell death of nef -expressing astrocytes exposed to 10 μM hydrogen peroxide for 30 min occurred within 4 h.

Conclusion: HIV-1 Nef may contribute to neuronal dysfunction and the development of HAD by causing death of astrocytes through decreasing their tolerance for hydrogen peroxide.

Details

Title
HIV-1 Nef increases astrocyte sensitivity towards exogenous hydrogen peroxide
Author
Masanetz, Sabine; Lehmann, Michael H
Pages
35
Publication year
2011
Publication date
2011
Publisher
BioMed Central
ISSN
1743-422X
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-8-35
ProQuest document ID
902295980
Copyright
© 2011 Masanetz and Lehmann; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.