HIV-1 Tat and cocaine coexposure impacts piRNAs to affect astrocyte energy metabolism. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Aim: To understand the effect of HIV infection and cocaine exposure on piRNA expression in human primary astrocytes. Materials & methods: We used small RNA sequencing analysis to investigate the impacts of HIV-1 Tat and cocaine coexposure on the expression of piRNAs in human primary astrocytes. Results: We identified 27,700 piRNAs and analyzed them by small RNA next-generation sequencing. A total of 239 piRNAs were significantly altered by HIV-1 Tat and cocaine coexposure. We also identified PIWIL1, PIWIL2, PIWIL3 and PIWIL4 as interacting partners of piRNAs that were affected by cocaine and HIV-1 Tat coexposure. Epigenetic changes in the expression levels of these piRNA targets were associated with Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways of energy metabolism and neurodegeneration. Conclusion: These findings provide evidence that cocaine exposure and HIV infection affect the expression levels of piRNA, PIWIL1, PIWIL2, PIWIL3 and PIWIL4.

published proceedings

  • Epigenomics

author list (cited authors)

  • Doke, M., Kashanchi, F., Khan, M. A., & Samikkannu, T.

citation count

  • 1

complete list of authors

  • Doke, Mayur||Kashanchi, Fatah||Khan, Mansoor A||Samikkannu, Thangavel

publication date

  • March 2022