# Basic Science Core I

> **NIH NIH P30** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2020 · $248,324

## Abstract

SUMMARY
The overall objective of the Basic Science Core I (BSCI) is to provide in vitro shared resources and training to
basic and clinical researchers studying HIV-1 induced neurological disorders at the molecular and cellular
levels, and initiate translational research toward better understanding of disease mechanisms and discovery of
reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis and development of intelligent therapies toward cure. It is now clear that
the current antiretroviral therapy (ART) effectively controls viremia in virtually all HIV-1 patients, but fails to
eliminate HIV-1 from latently infected cells including T-cells, macrophages, brain microglial cells, and cells in
other sites of latency throughout the body. As such, patients remain at risk for rapid viral rebound upon
interruption of ART. New strategies are needed to ablate the virus from latently infected cells and/or identify
and destroy latently infected cells. The BSCI is designed to provide investigators with intellectual and technical
expertise along with cellular and molecular tools to initiate research for understanding mechanisms of HIV-
1/CNS disease and the development of cell and virus based strategies toward control and elimination of HIV-1
infection in the CNS. The cell culture facility of BSCI provides investigators with well characterized highly
purified cells prepared from brain including neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, and endothelial
cells, as well as cultured peripheral blood cells for performing molecular, cellular, and virological studies toward
virus-host interaction, assessing efficiency of the methodologies for elimination of latently infected cells and
virus, and high throughput approaches toward identification of biomarkers. The BSCI also provides state-of-
the-art services for discovering the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of AIDS-associated
CNS dysfunction through proteomics/metabolomics and data analysis. Novel methods for discovering
biomarkers, innovative differential expression profiling and bioinformatics, along with interactomics and
phosphoproteomics are among the services that will be reliably and efficiently offered to investigators. The
core's unique expertise in gene editing and gene delivery will be used to guide investigators in the
development and implementation of effective strategies for introducing mutations in viral genes and host genes
and implementing various techniques for assessing the efficacy and specificity of editing strategies and utilizing
the most effective viral vectors including lentivirus, AAV, and adenovirus for delivery. Our core will work closely
with the other cores to promote a comprehensive multidisciplinary collaborative center program. This
synergistic approach will ensure the success of CNAC developmental award recipients and CNAC users in
conducting productive high impact research in neuroAIDS.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9931309
- **Project number:** 5P30MH092177-10
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** SHOHREH AMINI
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $248,324
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9931309

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9931309, Basic Science Core I (5P30MH092177-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9931309. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*