Date Published:
2014 Jan 13

Publication Type:
Journal Article

Authors:

C.H. Lucas
M. Calvez
R. Babu
A. Brown

Secondary:
Neurosci Lett

Volume:
558

Pagination:
97-102

PMID:
24215932

URL:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24215932

DOI:
10.1016/j.neulet.2013.10.037

Keywords:
Adult;AIDS Dementia Complex;Antigens, Nuclear;Brain;Case-Control Studies;Cell Nucleus;Cognition Disorders;Encephalitis, Viral;External;Female;HIV-1;Humans;Male;Middle Aged;Nerve Tissue Proteins;Neurons;RNA Splicing

Abstract:
<p>The anti-NeuN antibody has been widely used for over 15 years to unambiguously identify post-mitotic neurons in the central nervous system of a wide variety of vertebrates including mice, rats and humans. In contrast to its widely reported nuclear localization, we found significantly higher NeuN reactivity in the cytoplasm of neurons in brain sections from HIV-infected individuals with cognitive impairment compared to controls. The protein target of anti-NeuN antisera was recently identified as the neuron-specific RNA splicing factor, Rbfox3, but its significance in diseases affecting the brain has not been previously reported. RNA splicing occurs in the nucleus hence, the altered localization of RbFox3 to the cytoplasm may lead to the downregulation of neuronal gene expression.</p>