Virology Journal (Dec 2012)

Why are the neurodegenerative disease-related pathways overrepresented in primary HIV-infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells: a genome-wide perspective

  • Zhou Li,
  • Conceicao Viviane,
  • Gupta Priyanka,
  • Saksena Nitin K

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-9-308
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
p. 308

Abstract

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Abstract We demonstrate for the first time that the genome-wide profiling of HIV-infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from HIV-patients free of neurologic disease show overrepresentation of neurodegenerative pathways (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, Huntington’s and Prion Disease, etc.) in genome-wide microarray analysis, which suggests that this genome-wide representation of neurodegenerative diseases-related pathways in PBMCs could possibly be a subcellular manifestation of neurologic interference by HIV. Further, the cell-tagging analysis attested this belief showing the large majority of genes tagged with cells of monocyte and macrophage lineage, which are implicated in neuronal dysfunction in both viral and non-viral neurodegenerative diseases. Together, these findings suggest that the genomic interference of HIV with neurodegenerative pathways is not by chance, but may be an early sign of HIV-mediated sub-genomic and sub-cellular manifestation of neurologic disease. Moreover, these findings signify the utility of PBMC and genome-wide mapping of the host gene expression as a powerful tool in predicting possible early events in neurologic deterioration in HIV patients.

Keywords