Related Experiment Videos
HIV-I gpI20 neurotoxicity in brain cultures is prevented by moderate ethanol pretreatment
M A Collins1, E J Neafsey, J Y Zou
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA.
Abstract:
The HIV-1 coat protein gp 20, a potent neurotoxin that may underlie AIDS dementia, activates glia to cause neurotoxicity via the NMDA receptor and perhaps other routes. We find that pretreating cultures of rat organotypic cortical/hippocampal slices or cerebellar granule cells subchronically with ethanol in physiological concentrations (20-30 mM; 6 days) largely or even completely inhibits neurodegeneration due to gp120. However, NMDA-induced neurotoxicity appears unaffected by moderate ethanol pretreatment, indicating that ethanol's neuroprotection against gp120 is upstream of the NMDA receptor, possibly at a glial activation stage. The results could lead to a better understanding of relationships between ethanol, glia and neurodegeneration, particularly in AIDS.