Kaposi's sarcoma-associated human herpesvirus-8 encodes homologues of macrophage inflammatory protein-1 and interleukin-6. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Kaposi's sarcoma-associated human herpesvirus-8 encodes homologues of macrophage inflammatory protein-1 and interleukin-6.

Nat Med. 1997 Mar;3(3):287-92. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/97208913
Nicholas J; Ruvolo VR; Burns WH; Sandford G; Wan X; Ciufo D; Hendrickson SB; Guo HG; Hayward GS; Reitz MS; Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,; Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.

Abstract: Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) has been detected in Kaposi's sarcoma KS) lesions of all types (AIDS-related, classical and endemic), in body-cavity-based B-cell lymphomas (BCBLs) and in lesions of multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD). We have identified a major gamma-herpesvirus-divergent locus (DL-B) in HHV-8 DNA encoding several HHV-8 unique open reading frames (ORFs), including a homologue of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and two homologues of macrophage inflammatory protein MIP-1. We show that the HHV-8-encoded IL-6 homologue (vIL-6) shares functional properties with endogenous IL-6 proteins and that both vIL-6 and vMIP-1 transcripts are present at high levels following butyrate induction of an HHV-8' BCBL cell line. Low amounts of constitutive vIL-6, but not vMIP-1, mRNA were also detected. The presence of a functional IL-6 homologue encoded by HHV-8 may provide a mechanistic model for the hypothesized role of HHV-8 in KS, MCD and BCBL that involves the mitogenic effects of vIL-6 on surrounding cells. MIP-1 proteins may enhance these effects through the chemotactic recruitment of endogenous cytokine-producing cells into affected tissues and could potentially influence HIV disease progression in coinfected individuals through interactions with the HIV co-receptor CCR-5.
Keywords: *DNA, Viral/GENETICS *Herpesvirus, Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated/GENETICS *Interleukin-6/GENETICS *Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-1/GENETICSKWDdna,viral/geneticsKWDherpesvirus,kaposi'ssarcoma-associated/geneticsKWDinterleukin-6/geneticsKWDmacrophageinflammatoryprotein-1/genetics
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Copyright © 1997 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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