Nanoparticle based galectin-1 gene silencing, implications in methamphetamine regulation of HIV-1 infection in monocyte derived macrophages

• Main Authors: Nair, Bindukumar B., Reynolds, Jessica L., Mahajan, Supriya D., Sykes, Donald E., Prasad, Paras N., Schwartz, Stanley A., Law, Wing-Cheung, Aalinkeel, Ravikumar, Yong, Ken-Tye, Hui, Rui
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/97945; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17054
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Galectin-1, an adhesion molecule, is expressed in macrophages and implicated in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) viral adsorption. In this study, we investigated the effects of methamphetamine on galectin-1 production in human monocyte derived macrophages (MDM) and the role of galectin-1 in methamphetamine potentiation of HIV-1 infection. Herein we show that levels of galectin-1 gene and protein expression are significantly increased by methamphetamine. Furthermore, concomitant incubation of MDM with galectin-1 and methamphetamine facilitates HIV-1 infection compared to galectin-1 alone or methamphetamine alone. We utilized a nanotechnology approach that uses gold nanorod (GNR)-galectin-1 siRNA complexes (nanoplexes) to inhibit gene expression for galectin-1. Nanoplexes significantly silenced gene expression for galectin-1 and reversed the effects of methamphetamine on galectin-1 gene expression. Moreover, the effects of methamphetamine on HIV-1 infection were attenuated in the presence of the nanoplex in MDM.