title: Detection of HIV-1 gene sequences in hippocampal neurons isolated from postmortem AIDS brains by laser capture microdissection.
abstract: We employed laser capture microdissection to remove individual pyramidal neurons from the CA1, CA3, and CA4 regions of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded hippocampus from 8 AIDS brains and 2 HIV-1-seronegative normal brains. We amplified HIV-1 gag and nef gene sequences using separate, double round PCR reactions for each of the primer sets. In all 3 hippocampal regions, amplification efficiency was best with sequence length between 284 and 324 bp; HIV-1 nef gene sequences were more common than HIV-1 gag sequences; and rank order for percent positive amplification was CA3 > CA4 > CA1 samples. These results are the first to detect HIV-1 gene sequences in microdissected human tissue. They indicate that brain neurons in vivo contain HIV-1 DNA sequences consistent with latent infection by this virus, and suggest that neurons display a selective vulnerability for HIV infection. Neuronal HIV infection could contribute to neuronal injury and death or act as a potential viral reservoir if reactivated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Florida 33136, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torres-Muñoz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stockton
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tacoronte
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Maronpot
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Petito
mesh_terms: D015526:AIDS Dementia Complex / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D000328:Adult; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000235:genetics; D015693:Gene Products, nef / Q000235:genetics; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015693:Gene Products, nef; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus