RGD Reference Report - Autophagy is increased in postmortem brains of persons with HIV-1-associated encephalitis. - Rat Genome Database

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Autophagy is increased in postmortem brains of persons with HIV-1-associated encephalitis.

Authors: Zhou, D  Masliah, E  Spector, SA 
Citation: Zhou D, etal., J Infect Dis. 2011 Jun 1;203(11):1647-57.
RGD ID: 6483316
Pubmed: PMID:21592995   (View Abstract at PubMed)
PMCID: PMC3096793   (View Article at PubMed Central)
DOI: DOI:10.1093/infdis/jir163   (Journal Full-text)

BACKGROUND: Autophagy is critical to maintaining cell homeostasis and is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. This research examined the role of autophagy in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-associated encephalitis, the pathologic hallmark of neuroAIDS. METHODS: The frontal cortex from 32 HIV-infected persons (12 without evidence HIV-1 encephalitis or clinical signs of central nervous system impairment and 20 with histopathological findings of HIV-1 encephalitis) and 8 persons without HIV infection and any neuropathology were examined postmortem. Green fluorescent protein-labeled (GFP) light chain 3 (LC3)-expressing neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells treated with gp120 from CXCR4 and CCR5 viruses were also examined. Autophagic markers were assessed by means of Western blot analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and confocal microscopy. RESULTS: Autophagic proteins Beclin 1, Autophagy-related gene (Atg)-5, Atg-7, and LC3-II were significantly increased in brains with HIV-1 encephalitis (P < .05). These findings were confirmed by TEM and immunostaining of brain tissue. Additionally, levels of autophagic proteins and autophagosomes were increased in neuronal cells treated with both CXCR4- or CCR5-tropic HIV-1 gp120. No increase in the level of autophagy was observed in the brains of HIV-infected persons without HIV-1 encephalitis compared with the level in brains of HIV-uninfected persons. CONCLUSIONS: Postmortem brains with HIV-1 encephalitis exhibit increased markers of autophagy compared with brains from HIV-infected persons without HIV-1 encephalitis or HIV-uninfected control brains, which suggests that dysregulation of autophagy may be important in the pathogenesis of neuroAIDS.

RGD Manual Disease Annotations    Click to see Annotation Detail View
TermQualifierEvidenceWithReferenceNotesSourceOriginal Reference(s)
viral encephalitis  IEP 6483316associated with HIV infections and protein:increased expression:brainRGD 
viral encephalitis  ISOBECN1 (Homo sapiens)6483316; 6483316associated with HIV infections and protein:increased expression:brainRGD 

Objects Annotated

Genes (Rattus norvegicus)
Becn1  (beclin 1)

Genes (Mus musculus)
Becn1  (beclin 1, autophagy related)

Genes (Homo sapiens)
BECN1  (beclin 1)


Additional Information