Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Microglia proliferation underlies synaptic dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex: implications for the pathogenesis of HIV-1-associated neurocognitive and affective alterations

  • Published:
Journal of NeuroVirology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Microglia, which are productively infected by HIV-1, are critical for brain development and maturation, as well as synaptic plasticity. The pathophysiology of HIV-infected microglia and their role in the pathogenesis of HIV-1-associated neurocognitive and affective alterations, however, remains understudied. Three complementary aims were undertaken to critically address this knowledge gap. First, the expression of HIV-1 mRNA in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of postmortem HIV-1 seropositive individuals with HAND was investigated. Utilization of immunostaining and/or RNAscope multiplex fluorescent assays revealed prominent HIV-1 mRNA in microglia of postmortem HIV-1 seropositive individuals with HAND. Second, measures of microglia proliferation and neuronal damage were evaluated in chimeric HIV (EcoHIV) rats. Eight weeks after EcoHIV inoculation, enhanced microglial proliferation was observed in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of EcoHIV rats, evidenced by an increased number of cells co-localized with both Iba1 + and Ki67 + relative to control animals. Neuronal damage in EcoHIV infected rats was evidenced by pronounced decreases in both synaptophysin and postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95), markers of presynaptic and postsynaptic damage, respectively. Third, regression analyses were conducted to evaluate whether microglia proliferation mechanistically underlies neuronal damage in EcoHIV and control animals. Indeed, microglia proliferation accounted for 42–68.6% of the variance in synaptic dysfunction. Collectively, microglia proliferation induced by chronic HIV-1 viral protein exposure may underlie the profound synaptodendritic alterations in HIV-1. Understanding how microglia are involved in the pathogenesis of HAND and HIV-1-associated affective disorders affords a key target for the development of novel therapeutics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by grants from NIH (National Institute on Drug Abuse, R01-DA013137; National Institute on Drug Abuse, K99-DA056288, National Institute of Mental Health, R01-MH106392; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, R01-NS100624). We would like to emphasize the shared NIH funding resources through the NIMH and NINDS: Manhattan HIV Brain Bank (MHBB) U24MH100931, Texas NeuroAIDS Research Center (TNRC) U24MH100930, and the Data Coordinating Center (DCC) U24MH100925.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosemarie M. Booze.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, H., McLaurin, K.A., Mactutus, C.F. et al. Microglia proliferation underlies synaptic dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex: implications for the pathogenesis of HIV-1-associated neurocognitive and affective alterations. J. Neurovirol. 29, 460–471 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-023-01147-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-023-01147-x

Keywords

Navigation