Progress in research on neurotoxicity of HIV-1 Nef protein / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

Human immunodeficiency virus-1(HIV-1)is the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS), which can invade the central nervous system and cause a series of neurological disorders such as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders(HAND). Nef protein is one of the early proteins of HIV-1 virus, it is found that the neurotoxicity of HIV-1 mutant lacking nef gene is less neurotoxic than that of wild strain with nef gene, indicating that Nef protein plays an important role in HIV-1 neuropathogenicity.In this paper, neurotoxicity and mechanism of Nef are reviewed from three aspects, including the effects of Nef on the blood-brain barrier permeability and the direct and indirect damage to neurons.