Figure 2. HIV-1 clade B and C gp120 and METH co-morbidity impact dopaminergic dysfunction and CaMKs gene expression.

METH has synergistic effects with HIV-1 clade B and C gp120 on the downregulation of DRD-2 (A), DAT (B), CaMK II (C) and CaMK IV (D) gene expression. Astrocytes (1 × 10⁶ cells/ ml) were cultured for 24 h without treatment (control) or with METH (10 μM), clade B gp120 (50 ng/ ml), or clade C gp120 (50 ng/ ml) alone or METH in combination with clade B or C gp120. RNA was extracted, reverse transcribed, and subjected to quantitative real-time PCR using primers specific for DRD-2 (A), DAT (B), CaMK II (C), CaMK IV (D) and the housekeeping gene β-actin. Data are expressed as the mean ± SE of the TAI values from three independent experiments.