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Kurt F. Hauser,
Ph.D. Professor 1217 East Marshall Street Kontos Medical Sciences Building Room 439 P.O. Box 980613 Richmond, Virginia 23298-0613 Phone: (804) 628-7579 Fax: (804) 828-0676 E-mail: kfhauser@vcu.edu Publications: selected | PubMed |
Education: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Ph.D., 1983; Columbia University, Postdoctoral training, 1983-1986; Pennsylvania State University, Postdoctoral training, 1986-1987
Research interests:
Drug abuse and central
nervous system (CNS) plasticity with emphasis on the effects of opioids;
neuroAIDS; drug-induced modulation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1
(HIV-1) neuropathogenesis; developmental neurobiology; glial biology;
neuroimmunology; endogenous opioids and the pathobiology of dynorphins.
Our research attempts to
understand the mechanisms by which drug abuse causes lasting changes in
CNS organization and function.
During development, as well as in the mature brain, we have found that
drug abuse can disrupt the production and organization of neurons and
glia. We propose that the
organizational changes are maladaptive and especially revealed when the
drug-exposed CNS is further challenged with insults such as disease,
trauma, and/or aging.
The effects of substance abuse to CNS
function are particularly evident in individuals infected with HIV-1.
Opioid abuse can dramatically exacerbate the neuroinflammatory and
neurodegenerative consequences of HIV-1.
We discovered that opioid drugs can interact synergistically with
HIV-1 proteins to directly increase neuronal injury and death.
Our lab also found that opioids can potentiate the production of
inflammatory and excitotoxic molecules in HIV-1-exposed microglia and
astroglia, which further contribute to neuronal damage.
These studies have also added
significant insight into mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of
neuroAIDS in non-substance abusers.
To tackle these problems, a wide variety of cell, molecular, genetic, and
neuropharmacological strategies are used to understand the complex
mechanisms by which substance abuse and HIV-1 disrupt the nervous system
Selected publications:
Podhaizer EM, Zou S,
Fitting S, Samano KL, El-Hage N, Knapp PE, and Hauser KF (2012) Morphine
and gp120 toxic interactions in striatal neurons are dependent on HIV-1
strain, J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. in press. DOI: 10.1007/s11481-011-9326-z.
Zou S, Fitting S, Hahn Y-K, Welch SP, El-Hage N, Hauser KF, Knapp PE
(2011) Morphine potentiates neurodegenerative effects of HIV-1 Tat through
actions at μ-opioid receptor-expressing glia. Brain. 134(12): 2613-3628.
Suzuki M, El-Hage N, Zou S, Hahn Y-K, Sorrell ME, Knapp PE and Hauser
KF (2011) Fractalkine/CX3CL1 protects neurons from synergistic morphine
and HIV-1 Tat-induced dendritic losses and death. Mol Neurodegen. 6(1):
78.
El-Hage N, Dever SM, Fitting S, Ahmed T, and Hauser KF (2011)
HIV-1 co-infection and morphine co-exposure severely dysregulate
HCV-induced hepatic pro-inflammatory cytokine release and free radical
production: increased pathogenesis coincides with uncoordinated
host-defenses. J Virol. 85(22): 11601-11614.
Zou S, El-Hage N, Podhaizer EM, Knapp PE, and Hauser KF.
(2011) PTEN gene silencing prevents HIV-1 gp120(IIIB)-induced degeneration
of striatal neurons. J
Neurovirol. 17(1):41-9.
Yakovleva T, Bazov I, Watanabe H, Hauser KF, and Bakalkin G. (2010) Transcriptional control of maladaptive and protective responses in alcoholics: A role of the NF-κB system. Brain Behav Immun. E pub ahead of print.
Bakalkin G, Watanabe H, Jezierska J, Depoorter C, Verschuuren-Bemelmans C, Bazov I, Artemenko KA, Yakovleva T, Dooijes D, Van de Warrenburg BP, Zubarev RA, Kremer B, Knapp PE, Hauser KF, Wijmenga C, Nyberg F, Sinke RJ, and Verbeek DS. (2010) Prodynorphin mutations cause the neurodegenerative disorder spinocerebellar ataxia type 23. Am J Hum Genet. 87(5):593-603.
Gupta S, Knight AG, Gupta S, Knapp PE, Hauser KF, Keller JN, and Bruce-Keller AJ. (2010) HIV-Tat elicits microglial glutamate release: role of NAPDH oxidase and the cystine-glutamate antiporter. Neurosci Lett. 485(3):233-6.
Fitting S, Xu R, Bull C, Buch SK, El-Hage N, Nath A, Knapp PE, and Hauser KF. (2010) Interactive comorbidity between opioid drug abuse and HIV-1 Tat: chronic exposure augments spine loss and sublethal dendritic pathology in striatal neurons. Am J Pathol. 177(3):1397-410.
Hahn YK, Vo P, Fitting S, Block ML, Hauser KF, and Knapp PE. (2010) beta-Chemokine production by neural and glial progenitor cells is enhanced by HIV-1 Tat: effects on microglial migration. J Neurochem. 114(1):97-109.
Fitting S, Zou S, Chen W, Vo P, Hauser KF, Knapp PE. (2010) Regional heterogeneity and diversity in cytokine and chemokine production by astroglia: differential responses to HIV-1 Tat, gp120, and morphine revealed by multiplex analysis. J Proteome Res. 9(4):1795-804.