TOXICITY OF HIV-1 ENVELOPE PROTEIN GP120 FOR HUMAN NEURONS IN-VITRO

The HIV-1 virus and its envelope glycoprotein gp120 are toxic for huma n neurones in vitro. This neurotoxicity is, at least partially, of an apotoptic nature, resulting from the interaction of gp120 with the neu ronal membrane which lean's to pertubations of intracellular signaling systems. These latter bring about on the one hand a raising of [Cr2+] i partly due to the potentiation of the NMDA receptor response to endo genous glutamate and on the other hand the activation of certain MAP k inases (ERK and JNK) which lend to the initiation of the cell death pr ogram.