Small protein plays big role in chronic HIV infection | UCR News | UC Riverside

NeuroHIV refers to the effects of HIV infection on the brain or central nervous system and, to some extent, the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. A collection of diseases, including neuropathy and dementia, neuroHIV can cause problems with memory and thinking and compromise our ability to live a normal life. 

Using a mouse model of neuroHIV, a research team led by biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside, studied the effects of interferon-β (IFNβ), a small protein involved in cell signaling and integral to the body’s natural defense mechanism against viral infections. The researchers found that higher or lower than normal levels of IFNβ affect the brain in a sex-dependent fashion: some changes only occur in females, others only in males.

Marcus Kaul, a professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine who led the study, explained that when infection-induced IFNβ levels become high, the brains of females and males are protected. If IFNβ production in response to infection is absent or too low, HIV can compromise brain function right away in both females and males, he said. 

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