Document Type

Article

Journal Title

The Journal of Neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Publication Date

Spring 3-2-2011

Volume

31

Abstract

Neuronal damage induced by ongoing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection was investigated in humanized NOD/scid-IL-2Rγ(c)(null) mice transplanted at birth with human CD34-positive hematopoietic stem cells. Mice infected at 5 months of age and followed for up to 15 weeks maintained significant plasma viral loads and showed reduced numbers of CD4(+) T-cells. Prospective serial proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy tests showed selective reductions in cortical N-acetyl aspartate in infected animals. Diffusion tensor imaging revealed structural changes in cortical gray matter. Postmortem immunofluorescence brain tissue examinations for neuronal and glial markers, captured by multispectral imaging microscopy and quantified by morphometric and fluorescence emission, showed regional reduction of neuronal soma and synaptic architectures. This was evidenced by loss of microtubule-associated protein 2, synaptophysin, and neurofilament antigens. This study is the first, to our knowledge, demonstrating lost neuronal integrity after HIV-1 infection in humanized mice. As such, the model permits studies of the relationships between ongoing viral replication and virus-associated neurodegeneration.

MeSH Headings

Animals, Antigens, CD34, Cognition Disorders, Disease Progression, HIV Infections, HIV-1, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Humans, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Mice, Inbred NOD, Mice, Knockout, Mice, SCID, Nerve Net, Neuroglia, Neurons, Prospective Studies, Viral Load, Virus Replication

ISSN

1529-2401

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

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