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Novel role of human CD4 molecule identified in neurodegeneration

Nature Medicine volume 4, pages 441–446 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

The human CD4 molecule (hCD4) is expressed on T lymphocytes and macrophages and acts as a key component of the cellular receptor for HIV. At baseline, hCD4 transgenic mice expressed hCD4 on microglia, the resident mononuclear phagocytes of the brain, and showed no neuronal damage. Activation of brain microglia by peripheral immune challenges elicited neurodegeneration in hCD4 mice but not in nontransgenic controls. In post-mortem brain tissues from AIDS patients with opportunistic infections, but without typical HIV encephalitis, hCD4 expression correlated with neurodegeneration. We conclude that hCD4 may function as an important mediator of indirect neuronal damage in infectious and immune-mediated diseases of the central nervous system.

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Author notes

  1. Manuel Buttini and Christopher E. Westland: M.B. and C.E.W. contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gladstone Molecular Neurobiology Program and Department of Neurology, University of California, P.O. Box 419100, San Francisco, California, 94141-9100, USA

    Manuel Buttini, Christopher E. Westland, Tony Wyss-Coray & Lennart Mucke

  2. Departments of Neurosciences and Pathology, University of California at San Diego, Lajolla, California, 92093-0624, USA

    Eliezer Masliah & Arie M. Yafeh

  3. Neuroscience Program, University of California, San Francisco, P.O. Box 419100, San Francisco, California, 94141-9100, USA

    Lennart Mucke

Authors
  1. Manuel Buttini
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  2. Christopher E. Westland
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  3. Eliezer Masliah
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  4. Arie M. Yafeh
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  5. Tony Wyss-Coray
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  6. Lennart Mucke
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Correspondence to Lennart Mucke.

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Buttini, M., Westland, C., Masliah, E. et al. Novel role of human CD4 molecule identified in neurodegeneration. Nat Med 4, 441–446 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0498-441

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