Ganem D; Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
Program Abstr 4th Conf Retrovir Oppor Infect Conf Retrovir Oppor Infect 4th 1997 Wash DC. 1997 Jan 22-26; 4th: 217 (abstract no. S24).
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, San Francisco, CA.
The genome of a novel human herpesvirus (KSHV; HHV8) is regularly present in all forms of human Kaposi's sarcoma. We have developed a system for observing efficient lytic replication of this agent by treating latently infected B cells with TPA. Virion DNA is a linear species of 165 kb and bears terminal GC-rich repeats; latently infected cells harbor the genome as a monomeric circular episome. KSHV produced following TPA treatment induces abortive infection in 293 cells but is transmitted poorly or not at all to most cultured cell lines tested. We have cloned two major viral RNAs expressed in KS. One of these encodes a small hydrophobic membrane protein, is expressed in latent infection and is found in all KS spindle cells. The other is a lytic cycle-specific, noncoding nuclear transcript found in a subpopulation of KS spindle cells. Thus, KS tumors support both lytic and latent viral replication. Using latently infected cells as a source of antigen, we have also developed a serologic assay for HHV8 infection. Antibodies to this latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) are strikingly correlated with the known epidemiologic risk for KS, suggesting that HHV8 infection is an important determinant of that risk.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- B-Lymphocytes
- Cell Line
- Herpesviridae
- Herpesviridae Infections
- Herpesvirus 8, Human
- Humans
- Nuclear Proteins
- Sarcoma, Kaposi
- Terminal Repeat Sequences
- genetics
- latency-associated nuclear antigen
Other ID:
UI: 102223059
From Meeting Abstracts