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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Isolation, Transfection, and Culture of Primary Human Monocytes
Published on: December 16, 2019
Alcohol and HIV decrease proteasome and immunoproteasome function in macrophages: implications for impaired immune
James Haorah1, David Heilman, Casey Diekmann
1Liver Study Unit, The Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-5215, USA.
Abstract:
Proteasomes (proteinase complexes, PR) and immunoproteasomes (IPR) degrade damaged proteins and affect protein processing required for antigen presentation by mononuclear phagocytes. These critical immune processes are attenuated during progressive HIV-1 infection and are affected by alcohol abuse. To investigate the mechanisms underlying these functional changes, we measured PR and CYP2E1 activities [an ethanol (EtOH) metabolizing enzyme] and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) following HIV-1 infection and EtOH treatment. We observed progressive declines of PR activity and PR/IPR contents in HIV-1-infected MDM. PR activity and IPR expression increased after IFN-gamma stimulation but reduced after HIV-1 infection. EtOH inhibited both IFN-gamma-induced PR and IPR. Paradoxically, EtOH attenuated PR catalytic activity in infected MDM and suppressed viral replication. Elevated ROS followed EtOH exposure and paralleled decreased PR activity. The latter was restored by anti-oxidant. The data support the notion that HIV-1 infection and EtOH may work in concert to affect immune function including antigen presentation and thereby affect disease progression.
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