2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Mechanisms of development of AIDS encephalopathy using a new transgenic mouse model expressing HIV-1 Nef

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24780280
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Basic veterinary science/Basic zootechnical science
Research Institution	Hokkaido University
Principal Investigator	TOMIOKA Yukiko 北海道大学, 遺伝子病制御研究所, 助教 (50374674)
Research Collaborator	ONO Etsuro 九州大学, 医学研究院, 教授 (00160903) MORIMATSU Masami 北海道大学, 獣医学研究科, 准教授 (70241370)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	病態 / 疾患モデル / HIV-1 / Nef / エイズ脳症 / トランスジェニックマウス
Research Abstract	Transgenic mice expressing Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1) accessory protein Nef (Nef Tg) showed the severe neurological symptom including motor ataxia, hindquarter paralysis, and epileptic seizure. Histopathologically, prominent astrocytosis, microgliosis, vacuolation of the white matter, lymphocytic infiltration were observed in the brain and spinal cord of Nef Tg. In addition, expression of some cytokines such as IP-10 was increased in the brain of Nef Tg. These pathological changes were similar to those of AIDS encephalopathy in human, which indicated that Nef protein plays an important role in neuropathogenesis of HIV-1 infection.