Do viral chemokines modulate Kaposi's sarcoma?

✍ Scribed by Dirk Dittmer; Dean H. Kedes

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 56 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0265-9247
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1521-1878(199805)20:5<367::aid-bies3>3.0.co;2-l

✦ Synopsis

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is an angiogenic tumor of mixed cellularity most commonly found in homosexual men infected with HIV. Both molecular and epidemiologic evidence has linked a newly described herpesvirus to this disease. This virus, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), encodes a number of cellular homologues, including two genes that share remarkable similarity to the human chemokine macrophage inhibitory factor-1␣. Recently, studies have begun to shed light on the roles these viral chemokines (vMIP-I and vMIP-II) may play in the complex pathogenesis of KS. [1][2][3] The vMIP peptides may contribute to the formation of new blood vessels (neovascularization), inhibit infection by certain strains of HIV-1 and modify the cellular immune response.