Cocaine and HIV‐1 Tat disrupt cholesterol homeostasis in astrocytes: Implications for HIV‐associated neurocognitive disorders in cocaine user patients

• Published in: Glia Vol. 66; no. 4; pp. 889 - 902
• Main Authors: Cotto, Bianca, Natarajaseenivasan, Kalimuthusamy, Ferrero, Kimberly, Wesley, Leroy, Sayre, Matthew, Langford, Dianne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.04.2018
• Subjects: AIDS Dementia Complex - metabolism; Alzheimer's disease; Animals; Apolipoprotein E; Astrocytes; Astrocytes - drug effects; Astrocytes - metabolism; Bile; Bioavailability; Bioenergetics; Brain; Brain - drug effects; Brain - metabolism; Cells, Cultured; Central nervous system; Cholesterol; Cholesterol - metabolism; Cocaine; Cocaine - toxicity; Cocaine-Related Disorders - metabolism; Cognition; Cytochrome; Cytochrome P450; Disease Models, Animal; Disorders; Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors - toxicity; Efflux; Exposure; Female; HIV; HIV-1; Homeostasis; Homeostasis - drug effects; Homeostasis - physiology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Huntington's disease; Lipid metabolism; Liver; Liver X receptors; Liver X Receptors - metabolism; Male; Metabolism; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Transgenic; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurological diseases; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - metabolism; Proteins; Receptors; Regulators; Signal transduction; Signaling; tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus - metabolism; Tat protein; Transcription activation; cholesterol; metabolism; astrocytes; HIV; cocaine

Cholesterol synthesis and clearance by astrocytes are tightly regulated to maintain constant levels within the brain. In this context, liver X receptors (LXRs) are the master regulators of cholesterol homeostasis in the central nervous system (CNS). Increasing levels of cholesterol in astrocytes tri...