Transcriptomic profiling of brain tissues from HIV-1 gp120 transgenic mice reveals insights into neuropathogenesis

Despite tremendous progress with antiretroviral therapy, HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) remain prevalent, underscoring the need for effective treatments. Sustained immune activation induced by the HIV-1 glycoprotein gp120 is a proposed mechanism leading to neuronal damage in the central nervous system (CNS). To investigate the gp120-mediated transcriptional changes underlying neuropathogenesis, we performed RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis on brain tissue samples from HIV-1 gp120 transgenic mice and wild-type (WT) control mice to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the gp120-expressing brains compared to controls.