AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma growth and glucocorticoids (Meeting abstract).

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma growth and glucocorticoids (Meeting abstract).

Proc Annu Meet Am Assoc Cancer Res; 36:A1209 1995. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/95608986
Guo WX; Gill P; Antakly T; Departement de pathologie, Universite de Montreal Canada H3C 3J7

Abstract: Glucocorticoid therapy as an immunosuppressive agent has been linked to increased risk of development of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) which has become epidemic in HIV infected individuals. However, no experimental evidence is available to explain how glucocorticoid may be responsible for KS growth. We investigated the direct effect of dexamethasone (Dex) on the growth of KS using cell cultures derived from KS lesions of AIDS patients (AIDS-KS cells). Dex significantly stimulated the proliferation of the cultured AIDS-KS cells as assessed by 3H-thymidine incorporation and cell counting. Moreover, simultaneous exposure to Dex and oncostatin M, a KS major cytokine, produced a dramatic synergistic effect on proliferation of AIDS-KS cell. Compared with other well studied steroid responsive cell lines, AIDS-KS cells contain an unusually high level of GR protein, which is further upregulated by glucocorticoid treatment. RU486, a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, completely abolished the stimulatory effect of Dex and reduced the synergistic effect of Dex and OSM on proliferation of AIDS-KS. These findings demonstrate that glucocorticoid stimulates directly the proliferation of AIDS-KS cells via the modulation of GR expression.

Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*PATHOLOGY Antineoplastic Agents/PHARMACOLOGY Cell Division/*DRUG EFFECTS Cell Line Dexamethasone/*PHARMACOLOGY Drug Synergism Human Peptides/*PHARMACOLOGY Receptors, Glucocorticoid/DRUG EFFECTS Sarcoma, Kaposi's/*PATHOLOGY Tumor Cells, Cultured/*DRUG EFFECTS/PATHOLOGY ABSTRACT
950830
M9580997

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