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Journal of Virology, August 2001, p. 7067-7077, Vol. 75, No. 15
Departments of
Neuropharmacology1 and
Immunology,2 The Scripps Research
Institute, La Jolla, California
Received 1 December 2000/Accepted 20 April 2001
The CXC chemokine gamma interferon (IFN-
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.15.7067-7077.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Interferon-Independent, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Type 1 gp120-Mediated Induction of CXCL10/IP-10 Gene
Expression by Astrocytes In Vivo and In Vitro


)-inducible
protein CXCL10/IP-10 is markedly elevated in cerebrospinal fluid and brain of individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and is implicated in the pathogenesis of HIV-associated dementia (HAD). To explore the possible role of CXCL10/IP-10 in HAD, we
examined the expression of this and other chemokines in the central
nervous system (CNS) of transgenic mice with astrocyte-targeted expression of HIV gp120 under the control of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter, a murine model for HIV-1
encephalopathy. Compared with wild-type controls, CNS expression of the
CC chemokine gene CCL2/MCP-1 and the CXC chemokine genes CXCL10/IP-10
and CXCL9/Mig was induced in the GFAP-HIV gp120 mice. CXCL10/IP-10 RNA
expression was increased most and overlapped the expression of the
transgene-encoded HIV gp120 gene. Astrocytes and to a lesser extent
microglia were identified as the major cellular sites for CXCL10/IP-10
gene expression. There was no detectable expression of any class of IFN
or their responsive genes. In astrocyte cultures, soluble recombinant
HIV gp120 protein was capable of directly inducing CXCL10/IP-10 gene expression a process that was independent of STAT1. These findings highlight a novel IFN- and STAT1-independent mechanism for the regulation of CXCL10/IP-10 expression and directly link expression of
HIV gp120 to the induction of CXCL10/IP-10 that is found in HIV
infection of the CNS. Finally, one function of IP-10 expression may be
the recruitment of leukocytes to the CNS, since the brain of GFAP-HIV
gp120 mice had increased numbers of CD3+ T cells that were
found in close proximity to sites of CXCL10/IP-10 RNA expression.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Neuropharmacology, SP315, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, CA 92037. Phone: (858) 784-9306. Fax: (858) 784-9544. E-mail: icamp{at}scripps.edu.
Manuscript 13725-NP from the Scripps Research Institute.
Present address: Digital Gene Technologies, La Jolla, Calif.
§
Present address: BioCytex, Marseille, France.
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