Characterization of a Chemokine Receptor-Related Gene in Human Herpesvirus 8 and Its Expression in Kaposi's Sarcoma

• Published in: Virology (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 1997-02, Vol.228 (2), p.371-378
• Main Authors: Guo, Hong-Guang, Browning, Philip, Nicholas, John, Hayward, Gary S., Tschachler, Erwin, Jiang, Yi-Wen, Sadowska, Mariola, Raffeld, Mark, Colombini, Sandra, Gallo, Robert C., Reitz, Marvin S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - pathology; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - virology; AIDS/HIV; Amino Acid Sequence; Antigens, CD - chemistry; Base Sequence; Capsid - genetics; DNA, Viral - analysis; Genes, Viral; Herpesvirus 8, Human - genetics; Humans; Interleukin-8; Molecular Sequence Data; Open Reading Frames; Receptors, Chemokine; Receptors, Cytokine - chemistry; Receptors, Cytokine - genetics; Receptors, Interleukin - chemistry; Receptors, Interleukin-8A; Sarcoma, Kaposi - pathology; Sarcoma, Kaposi - virology; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Viral Proteins - chemistry; Viral Proteins - genetics
• ISSN: 0042-6822; 1096-0341
• DOI: 10.1006/viro.1996.8386

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is a recently discovered virus that is highly associated with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and AIDS-associated body cavity lymphomas, although it is also found in some normal individuals. HHV-8 is related by nucleotide sequence homology to herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), which causes T cell lymphomas in some New World monkeys, and to Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), a human herpesvirus linked etiologically with Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We report that, like HVS but unlike EBV, HHV-8 contains a gene (ORF74) with significant sequence homology to the high-affinity IL-8 receptor, a member of the α (CXC) chemokine receptor family of transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors. We also show by reverse transcription PCR that the chemokine receptor-related HHV-8 gene is detectable in some RNA samples from KS tissue, and that its expression varies independently from that of ORF26, a minor capsid protein. The presence of a potential chemokine receptor in HHV-8 and its expression in KS tissue suggests that it may be important in the regulation of viral gene expression and may play a role in the etiology of KS and AIDS-related body cavity lymphomas.