Excitotoxicity and/or microglial reactivity might underlie neurologic dysfunction in HIV patients. The HIV regulatory protein Tat is both neurotoxic and pro-inflammatory, suggesting that Tat might participate in the pathogenesis of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The present study was undertaken to evaluate if Tat can increase extracellular glutamate, and was specifically designed to determine the degree to which, and the mechanisms by which Tat could drive microglial glutamate release. Data show that application of Tat to cultured primary microglia caused dose-dependent increases in extracellular glutamate that were exacerbated by morphine, which is known to worsen Tat cytotoxicity. Tat-induced glutamate release was decreased by inhibitors of p38 and p42/44 MAPK, and by inhibitors of NADPH oxidase and the x(c)(-) cystine-glutamate antiporter. Furthermore, Tat increased expression of the catalytic subunit of x(c)(-) (xCT), but Tat-induced increases in xCT mRNA were not affected by inhibition of NADPH oxidase or x(c)(-) activity. Together, these data describe a specific and biologically significant signaling component of the microglial response to Tat, and suggest that excitotoxic neuropathology associated with HIV infection might originate in part with Tat-induced activation of microglial glutamate release.
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