Despite the introduction of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) HIV-1 virus persists in the brain in a latent or restricted manner and viral proteins, such as gp120, continue to play a significant disease-inciting role. Gp120 is known to interact with -methyl--aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDARs) resulting in neuronal injury. Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and plays an important role in cognitive function and dysregulation of excitatory synaptic transmission impairs neurocognition. It is our hypothesis that gp120 may alter synaptic function via modulating glutamate function from a physiological molecule to a pathophysiological substance. To test this hypothesis, we studied the modulatory effects of gp120 and glutamate on NMDAR-mediated spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (sEPSC) and dynamic dendritic spine changes in rat cortical neuronal cultures. Our results revealed that gp120 and glutamate each, at low concentrations, had no significant effects on sEPSC and dendritic spines, but increased sEPSC frequency, decreased numbers of dendritic spines when tested in combination. The observed effects were blocked by either a CXCR4 blocker or an NMDAR antagonist, indicating the involvements of chemokine receptor CXCR4 and NMDARs in gp120 modulation of glutamate effects. These results may imply a potential mechanism for HIV-1-associated neuropathogenesis in the cART era.
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