Project description:HIV-1 Vpr protein is a multifunctional protein which perturbs human transcriptome and interacts with a number of cellular proteins. In this study, we have attempted to explore the efffects of Vpr on human transcriptome and have identified several genes which are involved in innate immune responses. We used the microarray analysis to elucidate the differnetail expression pattern of differnet genes in human dendritic cells infected with HIV-1 Vpr. As result we found that HIV-1 Vpr protein leads to the induction of various interferon stimualted genes (ISGs) in human monocyte derived dendritic cells. Human monocytes-derived dendritic cells (MDDCs) were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from two healthy donors and were infected with recombinant adenoviruses either expressing HIV-1 Vpr or ZsGreen1 as a control. At 48 hours post-infection, RNA was isolated and subjected to microarray analysis.
Project description:This is an ordinary differential equation mathematical model investigating the early responses of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells to infection by two H1N1 influenza A viruses of different clinical outcomes: pandemic A/California/4/2009 and seasonal A/New Caledonia/20/1999.
Project description:The central nervous system encounters a number of challenges following HIV infection, leading to increased risk for a collection of neurocognitive symptoms clinically classified as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Studies attempting to identify causal mechanisms and potential therapeutic interventions have historically relied on primary rodent neurons, but a number of recent reports take advantage of iPSC-derived neurons in order to study these mechanisms in a readily-reproducible, human model. We found that iPSC-derived neurons differentiated via an inducible neurogenin-2 transcription factor were resistant to gross toxicity from a number of HIV-associated insults previously reported to be toxic in rodent models, including HIV-infected myeloid cell supernatants and the integrase inhibitor antiretroviral drug, elvitegravir. Further examination of these cultures revealed robust resistance to NMDA receptor-mediated toxicity. We then performed a comparative analysis of iPSC neurons exposed to integrase inhibitors and activated microglial supernatants to study sub-cytotoxic alterations in micro electrode array (MEA)-measured neuronal activity and gene expression, identifying extracellular matrix interaction/morphogenesis as the most consistently altered pathways across HIV-associated insults. These findings illustrate that HIV-associated insults dysregulate human neuronal activity and organization even in the absence of gross NMDA-mediated neurotoxicity, which has important implications on the effects of these insults in neurodevelopment and on the interpretation of primary vs. iPSC in vitro neuronal studies.
Project description:HIV-1 infection of monocyte-derived macrophages does not elicit a detectable type I IFN response in vitro, however, previously published data has shown that blocking STAT1 and STAT3 inhibits HIV-1 replication. Here we test to see if low levels of IFN inducible genes are detectable in human monocyte-derived macrophages that have been infected with HIV-1 in vitro.
Project description:Dendritic cells (DC) serve a key function in host defense, linking innate detection of microbes to the activation of pathogen-specific adaptive immune responses. Whether there is cell-intrinsic recognition of HIV-1 by host innate pattern-recognition receptors and subsequent coupling to antiviral T cell responses is not yet known. DC are largely resistant to infection with HIV-1, but facilitate infection of co-cultured T-helper cells through a process of trans-enhancement. We show here that, when DC resistance to infection is circumvented, HIV-1 induces DC maturation, an antiviral type I interferon response and activation of T cells. This innate response is dependent on the interaction of newly-synthesized HIV-1 capsid (CA) with cellular cyclophilin A (CypA) and the subsequent activation of the transcription factor IRF3. Because the peptidyl-prolyl isomerase CypA also interacts with CA to promote HIV-1 infectivity, our results suggest that CA conformation has evolved under opposing selective pressures for infectivity versus furtiveness. Thus, a cell intrinsic sensor for HIV-1 exists in DC and mediates an antiviral immune response, but it is not typically engaged due to absence of DC infection. The virulence of HIV-1 may be related to evasion of this response, whose manipulation may be necessary to generate an effective HIV-1 vaccine. We analyzed the gene expression profiles of uninfected human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDCs) and MDDCs infected with an envelope-defective GFP-encoding VSV-G-pseudotyped HIV-1 vector (HIVGFP(G)) and with VSV-G pseudotyped virus-like particles derived from SIVmac to deliver Vpx (SIVVLP(G)), alone or in combination. Cells were infected at day 4 of differentiation and cells were harvested 48 hours later. RNA was extracted with TRIzol. RNA was labeled and hybridized to Human Genome U133A 2.0 arrays arrays following the Affymetrix protocols. Data were analyzed in R and Bioconductor.
Project description:HIV-1 Vpr protein is a multifunctional protein which perturbs human transcriptome and interacts with a number of cellular proteins. In this study, we have attempted to explore the efffects of Vpr on human transcriptome and have identified several genes which are involved in innate immune responses. We used the microarray analysis to elucidate the differnetail expression pattern of differnet genes in human dendritic cells infected with HIV-1 Vpr. As result we found that HIV-1 Vpr protein leads to the induction of various interferon stimualted genes (ISGs) in human monocyte derived dendritic cells.