UBIQUITIN AND PROTEASOME GENE-EXPRESSION IS INCREASED IN SKELETAL-MUSCLE OF SLIM AIDS PATIENTS

Human biopsies obtained from skeletal muscle of cachectic AIDS patient s clearly showed an increased expression (in relation to that of healt hy subjects) of the genes encoding for the ubiquitin-ATP-dependent pro teolytic system. Increases of 120% and 42% were observed for the 2.4 a nd 1.2 kb ubiquitin transcripts, respectively. The expression of the C 8 proteasome subunit was also increased by 60% in the cachectic AIDS p atients in relation to the healthy control subjects. It is suggested t hat the activation of this proteolytic system (possibly via changes in circulating cytokines, such as TNF) may be responsible for the skelet al muscle waste that often accompanies AIDS.