Although combination antiretroviral therapy (CART) has been highly successful in reducing mother-to-child- transmission (MTCT) in the U.S., globally, MTCT is presently responsible for >1000 new HIV-1 infections each day or more than one new pediatric infection every two minutes. The dopamine (DA) system is a clinically relevant target as evidenced by recent imaging, neurocognitive, and post-mortem examinations of the HIV-1 infected patients. Using a prospective longitudinal design, in this competing renewal we will explore the hypothesis that the development and progression of neurocognitive dysfunction associated with HIV-1, is consequent of, and attributable to, pathology of the DA system, a system highly sensitive to inflammatory processes. Longitudinal studies, while challenging in non-rodent species, are critical for systematically addressing pediatric HIV-1/AIDS, and are also fundamental to our understanding of chronic HIV-1 associated neurological disorders (HAND).
The specific aims are: 1) To determine the development and progression of neurocognitive dysfunction consequent to chronic, low-level inflammation and HIV-1 protein exposure. Developmental milestones and an array of tasks directed at the behaviors expressing the prominent components of neurocognitive dysfunction that have been clinically identified will be assessed during the rodent preweaning period, adolescence, adulthood and middle age. 2) To determine the long-term alterations in the major DA receptor subtypes and DA transporter as a candidate neurochemical mechanism for the neurocognitive dysfunction consequent to chronic, low-level inflammation and HIV- 1 protein exposure. Quantitative autoradiography will be used to assess the expression of DA receptors (D1, D2, and D3) and DA transporters (DAT) in the nigrostriatal and mesocorticolimbic pathways of the DA system during adolescence, adulthood and middle age. 3) To determine the integrity of DAT function in the development and progression of neurocognitive dysfunction consequent to chronic, low-level inflammation and HIV-1 protein exposure. DAT function will be studied in a transgenic rat model of chronic HIV-1 protein exposure using in vivo NNF/microdialysis. 4) To determine whether the neurocognitive dysfunction consequent to chronic, low-level inflammation and HIV-1 protein exposure may be treated with currently used agonists or antagonists, or novel agents, targeted to the identified DA system dysfunction. These experiments will establish the functional role of the neurobiological changes in the DA receptors and DAT as a neurochemical mechanism contributing to, if not mediating, the neurocognitive impairments consequent to chronic expression of the HIV-1 transgene. The program goal is to advance the field with a translational model of the core components of cognition relevant to pediatric HIV-1/AIDS as well as to HAND, and more importantly, to identify (normal rats) and validate (the better characterized HIV-1 transgenic rat) novel neurotherapeutics to """"""""tune"""""""" the cognition domains afflicted by HIV-1.

Public Health Relevance

Despite the widely acknowledged success of antiretroviral therapy in reducing mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) in the U.S., globally, MTCT is presently responsible for >1000 new HIV-1 infections each day or more than one new pediatric infection every two minutes (UNAIDS/WHO, 2010). We are uniquely poised to advance the field with a translational model of the core components of cognition relevant to pediatric HIV-1/AIDS as well as to HIV-1-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Perhaps most importantly, our preclinical studies will identify (normal rats) and validate (the better characterized HIV-1 Tg rat novel neurotherapeutics to tune the cognition domains afflicted by HIV-1.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
7R01HD043680-06
Application #
8554771
Study Section
NeuroAIDS and other End-Organ Diseases Study Section (NAED)
Program Officer
Russo, Denise
Project Start
2002-12-01
Project End
2017-07-31
Budget Start
2013-08-01
Budget End
2014-07-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$285,531
Indirect Cost
$88,613
Name
University of South Carolina at Columbia
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041387846
City
Columbia
State
SC
Country
United States
Zip Code
29208
Li, Hailong; Illenberger, Jessica M; McLaurin, Kristen A et al. (2018) Identification of Dopamine D1-Alpha Receptor Within Rodent Nucleus Accumbens by an Innovative RNA In Situ Detection Technology. J Vis Exp :
McLaurin, Kristen A; Booze, Rosemarie M; Mactutus, Charles F (2018) Evolution of the HIV-1 transgenic rat: utility in assessing the progression of HIV-1-associated neurocognitive disorders. J Neurovirol 24:229-245
Bertrand, Sarah J; Mactutus, Charles F; Harrod, Steven B et al. (2018) HIV-1 proteins dysregulate motivational processes and dopamine circuitry. Sci Rep 8:7869
Fitting, Sylvia; McLaurin, Kristen A; Booze, Rosemarie M et al. (2018) Dose-dependent neurocognitive deficits following postnatal day 10 HIV-1 viral protein exposure: Relationship to hippocampal anatomy parameters. Int J Dev Neurosci 65:66-82
McLaurin, Kristen A; Li, Hailong; Booze, Rosemarie M et al. (2018) Unraveling Individual Differences In The HIV-1 Transgenic Rat: Therapeutic Efficacy Of Methylphenidate. Sci Rep 8:136
McLaurin, Kristen A; Moran, Landhing M; Li, Hailong et al. (2017) A Gap in Time: Extending our Knowledge of Temporal Processing Deficits in the HIV-1 Transgenic Rat. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 12:171-179
McLaurin, Kristen A; Booze, Rosemarie M; Mactutus, Charles F (2017) Selective developmental alterations in The HIV-1 transgenic rat: Opportunities for diagnosis of pediatric HIV-1. J Neurovirol 23:87-98
McLaurin, Kristen A; Booze, Rosemarie M; Mactutus, Charles F et al. (2017) Sex Matters: Robust Sex Differences in Signal Detection in the HIV-1 Transgenic Rat. Front Behav Neurosci 11:212
Javadi-Paydar, Mehrak; Roscoe Jr, Robert F; Denton, Adam R et al. (2017) HIV-1 and cocaine disrupt dopamine reuptake and medium spiny neurons in female rat striatum. PLoS One 12:e0188404
McLaurin, Kristen A; Booze, Rosemarie M; Mactutus, Charles F (2017) Temporal processsing demands in the HIV-1 transgenic rat: Amodal gating and implications for diagnostics. Int J Dev Neurosci 57:12-20

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