title: HIV-1 Tat alters normal organization of neurons and astrocytes in primary rodent brain cell cultures: RGD sequence dependence.
abstract: The HIV-1 trans-activator protein Tat has been implicated as a mediator of neuronal dysfunction in several model systems. To explore the possibility that Tat can affect primary brain cells, we examined the effect of recombinant Tat protein on rat cortical brain cell cultures. Tat induced marked aggregation of neurons and astrocytes in developing cultures and caused the neuritic processes to coalesce into fascicles. Cell death was not seen and brain macrophages were not affected. These effects mapped to a different region from the trans-activation domain of Tat, as mutating the RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) sequence within the second exon abrogated aggregation and fascicle formation without affecting trans-activation capacity. Such effects on primary neurons and astrocytes may reflect specific interactions of Tat with uninfected cells within the CNS in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia 19104.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kolson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buchhalter
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Collman
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hellmig
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Debouck
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Scarano
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002449:Cell Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005091:Exons; D015696:Gene Products, tat / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D015696:Gene Products, tat; D009842:Oligopeptides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid