Jennifer Malon, Holly Beaulac, Tyler Vunk, Eliza Grlickova-Duzevik, James Vaughn, and Ling Cao publish paper in the Journal of Neuroimmunology
Jennifer Malon, M.P.H. ‘14; Holly Beaulac, B.S. '11, M.S.; Tyler Vunk, B.A.; Eliza Grlickova-Duzevik, M.D.; James Vaughn, Ph.D., professor of Microbiology; and Ling Cao, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Microbiology, recently published a paper titled, “Microglial Content-Dependent Inhibitory Effects of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) on Murine Retroviral Infection of Glial Cells” in the Journal of Neuroimmunology.
The article discusses their experimental research into the underlying mechanisms behind the development of HIV-associated peripheral neuropathy. Since HIV is a chronic disease associated with a wide range of painful complications, learning more about the mechanisms that cause these issues will aid the development of efficient therapies.
The researchers used a combination of viruses to produce HIV-like symptoms in astrocytes and microglia. These cells were grown in culture, infected with the viruses, and co-treated with CGRP – a possible mechanism contributing to the development of peripheral neuropathies.
The results of their study showed that CGRP treatments reduced viral loads when greater percentages of microglia were present in culture. In the central nervous system, microglia are the main source of HIV viral replication; therefore, CGRP may protect against viral infection.