TY - JOUR T1 - Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Tat Activates Calpain Proteases via the Ryanodine Receptor to Enhance Surface Dopamine Transporter Levels and Increase Transporter-Specific Uptake and <em>V</em><sub>max</sub> JF - The Journal of Neuroscience JO - J. Neurosci. SP - 14153 LP - 14164 DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1042-10.2010 VL - 30 IS - 42 AU - Seth W. Perry AU - Justin Barbieri AU - Ning Tong AU - Oksana Polesskaya AU - Santosh Pudasaini AU - Angela Stout AU - Rebecca Lu AU - Michelle Kiebala AU - Sanjay B. Maggirwar AU - Harris A. Gelbard Y1 - 2010/10/20 UR - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/30/42/14153.abstract N2 - Human immunodeficiency virus-associated neurological disease (HAND) still causes significant morbidity, despite success reducing viral loads with combination antiretroviral therapy. The dopamine (DA) system is particularly vulnerable in HAND. We hypothesize that early, “reversible” DAergic synaptic dysfunction occurs long before DAergic neuron loss. As such, aging human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals may be vulnerable to other age-related neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease (PD), underscoring the need to understand shared molecular targets in HAND and PD. Previously, we reported that the neurotoxic HIV-1 transactivating factor (Tat) acutely disrupts mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum calcium homeostasis via ryanodine receptor (RyR) activation. Here, we further report that Tat disrupts DA transporter (DAT) activity and function, resulting in increased plasma membrane (PM) DAT and increased DAT Vmax, without changes in Km or total DAT protein. Tat also increases calpain protease activity at the PM, demonstrated by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy of a cleavable fluorescent calpain substrate. Tat-increased PM DAT and calpain activity are blocked by the RyR antagonists ryanodine and dantrolene, the calpain inhibitor calpastatin, and by a specific inhibitor of GSK-3β. We conclude that Tat activates RyRs via a calcium- and calpain-mediated mechanism that upregulates DAT trafficking to the PM, and is independent of DAT protein synthesis, reinforcing the feasibility of RyR and GSK-3β inhibition as clinical therapeutic approaches for HAND. Finally, we provide key translational relevance for these findings by highlighting published human data of increased DAT levels in striata of HAND patients and by demonstrating similar findings in Tat-expressing transgenic mice. ER -