Cultured endothelial cells (ECs) can be infected by human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8), the possible etiologic agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) (Meeting abstract).

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Cultured endothelial cells (ECs) can be infected by human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8), the possible etiologic agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) (Meeting abstract).

Proc Annu Meet Am Soc Clin Oncol; 16:A192 1997. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/97621064
Arlen PM; Offermann MK; Emory University, Department of Medicine and Winship Cancer Center,; Atlanta, GA

Abstract: KS is a multifocal vascular lesion characterized by abnormal proliferation of endothelial-like KS cells. As the most common neoplasm affecting AIDS patients, a much higher rate is observed in homosexual men than other risk groups, suggesting a sexually transmitted cofactor. Recently genomic sequences of a novel herpes virus termed human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) have been identified in KS lesions. The amount of HHV-8 present in KS cells appears to be low. In contrast, HHV-8 has been found at high copy numbers in a rare HIV-associated lymphoma, BCBL-1 (body cavity based lymphoma-1). Since KS cells are likely of endothelial origin and HHV-8 is proposed as the etiologic agent, then infection of ECs with HHV-8 may be a critical initiating event in the pathogenesis of KS. We have examined the ability of ECs to be infected with HHV-8 using BCBL-1 cells as the source of HHV-8. ECs co-cultured with BCBL-1 cells became infected with HHV-8, as assessed by PCR amplification of HHV-8 sequences and Southern blot analysis. Incubation of ECs with either IL-1 or with double stranded RNA increased the amount of vital DNA detected in the ECs. This suggests that pro-inflammatory factors enhance infectivity of ECs with HHV-8. This study demonstrates that HHV-8 can be transferred from the B-cell derived lymphoma cells to ECs and can serve as a model for exploring the initiating events in the pathogenesis of KS. (C) American Society of Clinical Oncology 1997

Keywords: *Endothelium, Vascular/VIROLOGY *Herpesvirus, Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated/PATHOGENICITY *Sarcoma, Kaposi/VIROLOGY
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