Project description:Finding the differences in gene expression in three regions of the brai, basal ganglia, white matter, and frontal cortex, in normal, HIV infected, HIV inefected with neurocognitive impairment, and HIV infected with both neurocognitive impairment and encephalitis patients. We used microarrays to identify differentially expressed genes in normal, HIV infected, HIV inefected with neurocognitive impairment, and HIV infected with both neurocognitive impairment and encephalitis patients. Samples from three different brain regions from normal, HIV infected, HIV infected with neurocognitive impairment (HAD: HIV-associated dementia), and HIV infected with both neurocognitive impairment and encephalitis (HIVE: HIV encephalitis) patients were collected for RNA isolation and supsequent Affymetrix microarray analysis. We sought to obtain gene expression levels in different brain regions to find implication of HIV and the neurological impairment and inflammation associated with HIV infection.
Project description:We have used RNA immunoprecipitation to identify the set of mRNAs that HIV-1 Tat interacts with in T-cells. We have also performed measurements of relative RNA abundance to determine if Tat binding is associated with an increase in RNA abundance in Tat-expressing T-cells and during HIV infection of primary T-cells. We have also used RNA IP and ChIP-Chip to compare the RNAs with which Tat interacts with to the RNAs that RISC interacts with and the genes associated with pTEF-b.