ORAL MUCOSAL IMMUNITY IN VULNERABLE HIV INFECTED POPULATIONS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The frequency of oral complications of HIV/AIDS; including oral candidiasis, Kaposi's sarcoma, aphthous ulcers, oral hairy leukoplakia, CMV, HSV, necrotizing ulcerative periodontitis, and oral warts have changed since the initial description of the infection in the 1980s. Human beta defensins play a central role in mucosal defenses by providing direct anti-microbial activity and by mediating cross-talk with cells of the adaptive immune system. This project aims to determine susceptibility to oral complications following HIV infection, by using proteomics, genomics, and protein structure/function approaches and to focus on innate immunity in the oral mucosa and human beta defensins. Genetic analyses will focus on the association between innate immunity genes and susceptibility to development of oral complications in HIV-infected individuals, and the association between copy number variants in beta defensin genes and susceptibility to CCR5 vs. CXCR4 co-receptor use in cellular entry of HIV.