HIV-1 and amyloid beta interactions at the blood-brain barrier

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R01 · $135,455 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

ABSTRACT HIV and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brains share amyloid pathology as a contributing factor to cognitive decline that develops in the course of these diseases. In addition, both HIV infection and AD are associated with increased generation and release of extracellular vesicles (ECVs) that contain amyloid beta (Aβ) and are involved its intercellular transfer. Finally, the pool of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) is affected in both HIV infection and AD, leading to alterations of the learning and memory processes in HIV and AD patients. Thus, studies on shared mechanisms between HIV-infected brains and AD, with focus on Aβ and ECVs, may provide common pathways to treatment of these diseases. Our results, generated in the course of the parent grant, indicate that exposure to ECVs carrying Aβ (Aβ-ECVs) negatively affects differentiation of NPCs to mature neurons; however, the mechanisms of these effects are unknown. In the present supplement, we hypothesize that an underlying cause of altered neurogenesis may be mitochondrial dysfunction, which is a prominent feature of both HIV infection and AD. Therefore, we propose to extend our original proposal on studies on the impact of Aβ- ECVs on mitochondrial functions of NPCs. The central hypothesis of this supplement is that exposure to Aβ-ECVs induces mitochondrial dysfunction of NPCs, leading to the induction of inflammatory responses, and resulting in aberrant neurogenesis. Consistent with the parent grant, the outcome of the proposed studies will be focused on differentiation of NPCs to mature neurons. When successfully completed, this supplement may lead to the development of future therapeutic interventions influencing ECV formation and interactions with NPCs that can attenuate the dynamic and severity of cognitive decline both in HIV infection and AD.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10123346
Project number
3R01MH072567-13S1
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Principal Investigator
Michal Toborek
Activity code
R01
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$135,455
Award type
3
Project period
2005-09-20 → 2022-04-30