DC CFAR Investigator Dr. Michael Bukrinsky (GW) along with authors from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia published an article in PLOS Pathogens July 2019 entitled "Exosomes containing HIV protein Nef reorganize lipid rafts potentiating inflammatory response in bystander cells".
Based on the authors analysis HIV protein Nef released from infected cells in extracellular vesicles is taken up by un-infected ('bystander') cells impairing cholesterol metabolism in these cells which causes the formation of excessive lipid rafts, re-localization of the inflammatory receptors into rafts, and triggers inflammation. These findings may contribute to understanding HIV-associated metabolic co-morbidities. The study demonstrates how a single viral factor released from infected cells into circulation may cause a pleiotropy of pathogenic responses.
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