title: Microglia in the giant cell encephalitis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome: proliferation, infection and fusion.
abstract: The autopsied brains of three homosexual men with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), progressive encephalopathy and widespread multinucleated giant cell encephalitis were investigated by lectin and immunohistochemical methods to ascertain the cellular distribution of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) core protein, p25. Abundant viral antigen was present in all brains, limited to perivascular macrophages, microglial and multinucleated cells, some bearing elongated cytoplasmic processes. The multinucleated cells were consistently labelled by the lectin Ricinus communis agglutinin-1, a marker for microglia, which demonstrated process-bearing variants of these cells. The prominent staining of microglia for viral antigen and the morphological suggestion that they fuse with other microglia and/or macrophages to form the multinucleated cells characteristic of HIV encephalitis indicate that microglia are probably direct targets of HIV infection and serve to propagate and amplify this retroviral encephalitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Michaels
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Rosenblum
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000090266:Chromobox Protein Homolog 5; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000473:pathology*; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000032:analysis / Q000473:pathology*; D012276:Ricin; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C000715594:CBX5 protein, human; D015488:HIV Antigens; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D000090266:Chromobox Protein Homolog 5; D012276:Ricin