Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) rapidly penetrates into and infects the central nervous system (CNS). Inflammatory activity resulting from the interaction of HIV with macrophages and microglia in the nervous system leads to varying levels of neurological impairment and neuronal loss. While disease severity has been reduced with the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy, CNS disease persists and is expected to exert an increasingly heavy toll as patients with HIV live longer. Currently there are no therapeutic treatments that effectively control the inflammatory interactions that disable and destroy neurons. Several studies have indicated that neurotrophin receptor activation and subsequent signaling through protein kinase B (commonly known as Akt) has substantial therapeutic potential for the treatment of HIV-associated CNS disease. However, it has been difficult to exploit this potential due to the poor penetration of peptides into the brain and difficulties in controlling the balance between neuroprotective and pro-apoptotic neurotrophin signaling. The recent identification of small, non-peptide molecules that cross the blood-brain barrier and mimic the actions of neurotrophins offers an important opportunity to develop the therapeutic potential of the neurotrophin-Akt signaling pathway. These compounds are targeted to specific epitopes of the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) or receptor tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), thereby allowing a greater degree of control over signaling than seen with the endogenous ligands. Early work has shown that these compounds have potent neuroprotective properties. The proposed studies will use primary neural cultures to evaluate the therapeutic potential of three of these compounds. Protection against early neuronal damage will be tested by exposing rat neural cultures to conditioned medium from macrophages exposed to the HIV-1 envelope protein, gp120. Alterations in calcium homeostasis and microtubule-associated protein immunoreactivity will be used as sensitive indices of neuronal dysfunction. In addition, the direct anti- inflammatory properties of each compound will be assessed by measuring cytokine, chemokine and growth factor secretion in microglial and macrophage cultures. Assays are designed to generate basic pharmacological data needed to progress from culture experiments to pre-clinical whole animal studies. The proposed studies will establish dosing guidelines, mechanistic information and cellular targeting profiles necessary for therapeutic development of the neurotrophin mimetics.

Public Health Relevance

Non-peptide neurotrophin mimetics represent a completely new class of compounds which penetrate effectively into the brain and offer the hope of reversing the progressive development of neural damage associated with HIV infection. By mimicking the neuroprotective and repair processes of natural neurotrophins with high potency, these compounds may offer a safe and powerful new therapy not only for HIV-associated neurodegeneration but also for a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases. The proposed studies will move these compounds closer to therapeutic use by establishing dose-response guidelines and providing detailed information on the underlying molecular and cellular pathways responsible for protection.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH085606-02
Application #
7857999
Study Section
NeuroAIDS and other End-Organ Diseases Study Section (NAED)
Program Officer
Joseph, Jeymohan
Project Start
2009-07-01
Project End
2014-03-31
Budget Start
2010-04-01
Budget End
2011-03-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$333,000
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Meeker, Rick B; Hudson, Lola (2017) Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Neuropathogenesis: A Model for HIV-Induced CNS Inflammation and Neurodegeneration. Vet Sci 4:
Meeker, Rick B; Poulton, Winona; Clary, Gillian et al. (2016) Novel p75 neurotrophin receptor ligand stabilizes neuronal calcium, preserves mitochondrial movement and protects against HIV associated neuropathogenesis. Exp Neurol 275 Pt 1:182-98
Williams, Kimberly S; Killebrew, Deirdre A; Clary, Gillian P et al. (2016) Opposing Effects of NGF and proNGF on HIV Induced Macrophage Activation. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 11:98-120
Williams, Kimberly S; Killebrew, Deirdre A; Clary, Gillian P et al. (2015) Differential regulation of macrophage phenotype by mature and pro-nerve growth factor. J Neuroimmunol 285:76-93
Meeker, Rick B; Williams, Kimberly S (2015) The p75 neurotrophin receptor: at the crossroad of neural repair and death. Neural Regen Res 10:721-5
Meeker, Rick; Williams, Kimberly (2014) Dynamic nature of the p75 neurotrophin receptor in response to injury and disease. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 9:615-28
Meeker, Rick B; Poulton, Winona; Feng, Wen-hai et al. (2012) Suppression of immunodeficiency virus-associated neural damage by the p75 neurotrophin receptor ligand, LM11A-31, in an in vitro feline model. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 7:388-400
Meeker, Rick B; Williams, Kimberly; Killebrew, Deirdre A et al. (2012) Cell trafficking through the choroid plexus. Cell Adh Migr 6:390-6
Robertson, Kevin; Liner, Jeff; Meeker, Rick B (2012) Antiretroviral neurotoxicity. J Neurovirol 18:388-99
Meeker, Rick B; Poulton, Winona; Markovic-Plese, Silva et al. (2011) Protein changes in CSF of HIV-infected patients: evidence for loss of neuroprotection. J Neurovirol 17:258-73