Scripps Research Institute scientists have shed new light on the molecular basis of brain function problems associated with immune deficiency viruses.
The La Jolla, Calif., researchers used viruses similar to the HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. They said their findings may ultimately lead to new therapeutic interventions to prevent or reverse nervous system disorders in HIV-infected individuals.
Using multi-disciplinary analysis -- including cognitive, neurophysiologic, virologic, and molecular techniques -- the team found both a low-level viral infection in the brain as well as immune cells that had infiltrated the brain in order to protect against the virus.
"As in the rest of the body, in the brain immune cells achieve a level of control of the virus, but are unable to clear the infection," said lead author Howard Fox, an associate professor at Scripps Research and director of Scripps NeuroAIDS Preclinical Studies Center. "Over the long-term, this immune response may act as a double-edged sword, protecting against rampant viral replication in the brain, but leading to brain dysfunction."
The study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Worm-like marine animal providing
The marine invertebrate amphioxus offers baseline information for genetic roots of vertebrate innovation such as the adaptive immune system
Research on the genome of a marine creature led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is shedding new light on a key area of the tree of life.
Scientists Test Anti-obesity Vaccine
In what may be the first published breakthrough of its kind in the global battle against obesity, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have developed an anti-obesity vaccine that significantly slowed weight gain and reduced body fat in animal models.
Vitamin D a key player in overall health of several body organs, says UC Riverside biochemist
Essential for life in higher animals, vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now recognized as a major player in contributing to overall human health, emphasizes UC Riverside's Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D.
Neurotransmitter defect may trigger autoimmune disease
A potentially blinding neurological disorder, often confused with multiple sclerosis (MS), has now become a little less mysterious. A new study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, may have uncovered the cause of Devic's disease. Their new study, which will appear online on October 6th in the
Journal of Experimental Medicine, could result in new treatment options for this devastating disease.
Too many calories send the brain off kilter
An overload of calories throws critical portions of the brain out of whack, reveals a study in the October 3rd issue of the journal
Cell, a Cell Press publication. That response in the brain's hypothalamus—the "headquarters" for maintaining energy balance -- can happen even in the absence of any weight gain, according to the new studies in mice.
New study proves that pain is not a symptom of arthritis, pain causes arthritis
Pain is more than a symptom of osteoarthritis, it is an inherent and damaging part of the disease itself, according to a study published today in journal
Arthritis and Rheumatism. More specifically, the study revealed that pain signals originating in arthritic joints, and the biochemical processing of those signals as they reach the spinal cord, worsen and expand arthritis. In addition, researchers found that nerve pathways carrying pain signals transfer inflammation from arthritic joints to the spine and back again, causing disease at both ends.
MS patients have higher spinal fluid levels of suspicious immune molecule
A protein that helps keep immune cells quiet is more abundant in the spinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), further boosting suspicion that the protein, TREM-2, may be an important contributor to the disease.
New approach to gene therapy may shrink brain tumors, prevent their spread
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers are investigating a new approach to gene therapy for brain tumors – delivering a cancer-fighting gene to normal brain tissue around the tumor to keep it from spreading. An animal study published in the journal
Molecular Therapy, the first to test the feasibility of such an approach, found that inducing mouse brain cells to secrete human interferon-beta suppressed and eliminated growth of human glioblastoma cells implanted nearby.