Journal of Capital Medical University ›› 2014, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (1): 87-91.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-7795.2014.01.019

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Neurotoxicity of HIV-1 envelope protein gp120 V3 loop

Zhang Zhili1, Chen Binggang2, Jiang Taiyi1, Qiao Luxin3, Wu Hao1, Chen Dexi3, Zhang Yulin1   

  1. 1. Department of Infectious Diseases, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China;
    2. Department of Infectious Diseases, Binzhou Central Hospital, Binzhou 251700, Shandong Province, China;
    3. Beijing Institute of Hepatology, Beijing 100069, China
  • Received:2013-12-03 Online:2014-02-21 Published:2014-02-21
  • Supported by:

    This Study was Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81371399, 81272266);Key Projects of the National infectious diseases special research fund during the Twelfth Five-year Research Program of China (2012ZX10001-002, 2012ZX10001-003, 2012ZX10001-004);Beijing Key Laboratory of AIDS (BZ0089).

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the neurotoxicity of human immunodeficiency virus-1(HIV-1) envelope protein gp120 in vitro. Methods Primary mouse cortical neuronal cultures were firstly established for neurotoxicity analysis. Terminal dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assay were used to analyze neuronal apoptosis induced by recombinant gp120 V3 loop polypeptide. Further, Western blotting was used to detect the levels of apoptosis associated proteins bcl-2 and bax under gp120 V3 loop exposure. Results Recombinant gp120 V3 loop polypeptide was found to induce neuronal apoptosis and inhibit neurite outgrowth in a concentration dependent manner, which was associated with low expression of bcl-2 proteins. Conclusion HIV-1 envelope protein gp120 has neurotoxicity.

Key words: envelope protein gp120, neurotoxicity, V3 loop, apoptosis

CLC Number: