A Single-Cell Perspective on the Effects of Dopamine in the Regulation of HIV Latency Phenotypes in a Myeloid Cell Model

While new discoveries are the grand indicator of success at San Diego BioMed, we feel that creating differences truly occurs when these discoveries are publicized and accessible to our community so that it can be used to advance medical knowledge and therapies or cures. This is why paper publications are pivotal to our job.

Congratulations to another publication, another hallmark, for the Marcondes Lab!

Read and learn about the Marcondes Lab’s paper @ https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/17/7/895

Following this study, Dr. Cecilia Marcondes outlines that “The main challenge in fighting HIV is that some infected cells become reservoirs hidden in sanctuary body sites such as the brain and are invisible to the anti-viral immune response or anti-viral therapies. Another challenge is that populations at risk of HIV infection, such as substance users, usually have a diminished ability to control the virus, largely because of the high levels of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, that can activate the latent virus and inflammatory cytokines. Our study focused on the characterization of host myeloid HIV targets, the so called “latently infected cells” in comparison to the ones that produce the virus actively, and to myeloid cells that are not infected at all, in conditions that mimic the brain of a substance user, with high levels of dopamine. Our goal was to develop a pipeline to identify reservoir cells and to identify pathways controlling HIV latency and reactivation in controls and drug users. The study was performed in cell models using technologies that allow the visualization of biological processes affected by HIV, dopamine and their interactions, on a single-cell basis. This represents a significant progress in understanding effects of drugs on mechanisms that facilitate viral latency or enhance neuropathogenesis in persons living with HIV.”