{
  "abstract": "HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Impairments persist, with over 50% of patients experiencing cognitive decline. Blood-brain barrier (BBB) impairment is a consistent feature of this comorbidity, which is remarkable, because BBB endothelial cells are not productively infected by HIV-1. Conversely, pericytes can be productively infected with HIV-1 and are essential for cerebrovascular homeostasis. Given this, we hypothesized that HIV-1 infection of pericytes disrupts BBB endothelial cell integrity through dysfunctional gap junction and hemichannel signaling, impairing pericyte-endothelial intercellular communication. Using a co-culture model with primary human BBB pericytes and brain microvascular endothelial cells, pericytes were infected with HIV-1 for 3 or 7 days, exhibiting active and latent viral phenotypes. Findings revealed enhanced gap junction communication between HIV-infected pericytes and endothelial cells under both conditions, and blocking gap junctions modulated endothelial inflammatory responses. Overall, this study advances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying HIV-associated BBB dysfunction and may inform the development of targeted therapeutic strategies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Suite 528, 1011 NW 15Th Street, Miami, FL, 33136, USA. sms707@miami.edu.",
    "Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Suite 528, 1011 NW 15Th Street, Miami, FL, 33136, USA.",
    "Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.",
    "Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.",
    "Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.",
    "Department of Medicine, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.",
    "Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Suite 528, 1011 NW 15Th Street, Miami, FL, 33136, USA. mtoborek@med.miami.edu."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 14,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Schmidlin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Oandy Naranjo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Silvia Torices",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8979-887X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Nikolai Fattakhov"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Monika Gilicinska"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Masha Minevich"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Kyra A Schindler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Destiny Tiburcio"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Olivia M Osborne"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Arpan Acharya"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Minseon Park"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Mario Stevenson"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Siddappa N Byrareddy"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Michal Toborek"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cegxn0hg5cxqc.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1007/s12035-026-06266-0",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13675307",
  "id": "cegxn0hg5cxqc",
  "issns": [
    "0893-7648",
    "1559-1182"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42886426",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2808|Barrier Structure and Function Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7202275380",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13675307?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13675307",
  "pmid": "42886426",
  "published": "2026-10-16",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cegxn0hg5cxqc.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:46Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42886426",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42886426"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2808|Barrier Structure and Function Studies",
      "subfield": "neurology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Latent HIV Infection of BBB Pericytes Enhances Gap Junction-mediated Crosstalk with Endothelial Cells.",
  "title_text": "Latent HIV Infection of BBB Pericytes Enhances Gap Junction-mediated Crosstalk with Endothelial Cells.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:46Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cegxn0hg5cxqc",
  "venue": "Molecular neurobiology",
  "versions": []
}