This article is part of the supplement: 2005 International Meeting of The Institute of Human Virology
Poster presentation
Cathepsin B and Cystatin A as Indicators of a Separate Apoptotic Pathway in HIV-1 Infection
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* Corresponding author: Birgitta Åsjö birgitta.asjo@gades.uib.no
1 Center f. Res. in Virology, The Gade Institute, Univ. of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
2 Dept. of Pathology, Bergen, Norway
3 Inst. of Medicine Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
Retrovirology 2005, 2(Suppl 1):P11 doi:10.1186/1742-4690-2-S1-P11
Published: 8 December 2005First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
Apoptosis has been proposed to explain the dysfunction in HIV-1 infection and FAS has been given a pivotal role. However, apoptosis in lymphoid follicles has also been explained by a follicular dendritic cell (FDC) dependent pathway regulated by a cathepsin-dependent endonuclease activity in germinal centre (GC) cells. Cystatin A is present in FDCs and is a natural inhibitor of cysteine proteinase, as Cathepsin B. As yet, the Cystatin A and Cathepsin B interaction in HIV-1 infection has not been studied.