HIV-1 gp120/160 induce endothelial apoptosis in a time- and concentration-dependent manner.

HUVEC were grown in LSM (0.5%), as described in “Materials and methods” and were treated with HIV-1 gp120 or gp160 for different time periods (A) or at different concentrations (B). Cell samples were analyzed for apoptosis using the photometric sandwich ELISA to detect cytoplasmic nucleosome degradation. The fold increase in nucleosome degradation was calculated by comparing the optical density (OD) values of the gp120/160-treated cells with those of the untreated HUVEC. *P < .0005.