Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a multicellular, angiogenic tumor arising in the setting of immunosuppression, including AIDS and solid organ transplantation. Despite advances in AIDS therapy and prevention, KS remains the most common AIDS-associated malignancy worldwide and carries with it significant morbidity and mortality. The etiologic agent of KS, a gammaherpesvirus known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, also referred to as HHV8), has been identified in different cell types within KS lesions, including endothelial cells, macrophages and characteristic KS spindle cells that display a unique combination of cell surface markers. Furthermore, the presence of KSHV within circulating B cells, monocytes, and hematopoietic stem cells in patients correlates with the development and severity of KS lesions. Thus, it remains unclear whether cell-free virus infection and subsequent cellular transformation in vivo takes place de novo at the site of tumor formation or, alternatively, whether hematopoietic cells act as primary viral targets from which cell-associated virus migrates to affect the target tissue. This shortcoming in our understanding of KS disease progress is largely due to the absence of an effective in vivo model in which to study the natural history of KSHV infection in the context of an human immune system. To address these issues, the research aims of this research proposal are two-fold: 1) to develop a chimeric animal model involving the engraftment of human hematopoietic tissue into immunodeficient (SCID) mice to allow for the presence of functional human immune and skin tissue compartments, which represent the known cellular targets for KSHV infection and the most common target tissue for KS formation, respectively; 2) to analyze the components of the model following the introduction of KSHV with the application of quantitative PCR, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry in an effort to better understand the process of initial infection, dissemination and tumor formation within an in vivo system. An intense research program has been designed to address these aims with the hope of identifying therapeutic targets for the treatment and prevention of this devastating illness.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
5K08CA103858-04
Application #
7286740
Study Section
Subcommittee G - Education (NCI)
Program Officer
Myrick, Dorkina C
Project Start
2004-09-27
Project End
2009-08-31
Budget Start
2007-09-01
Budget End
2008-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$133,083
Indirect Cost
Name
Medical University of South Carolina
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
183710748
City
Charleston
State
SC
Country
United States
Zip Code
29425
Qin, Zhiqiang; DeFee, Michael; Isaacs, Jennifer S et al. (2010) Extracellular Hsp90 serves as a co-factor for MAPK activation and latent viral gene expression during de novo infection by KSHV. Virology 403:92-102
Qin, Zhiqiang; Freitas, Eduardo; Sullivan, Roger et al. (2010) Upregulation of xCT by KSHV-encoded microRNAs facilitates KSHV dissemination and persistence in an environment of oxidative stress. PLoS Pathog 6:e1000742
Qin, Zhiqiang; Kearney, Patricia; Plaisance, Karlie et al. (2010) Pivotal advance: Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)-encoded microRNA specifically induce IL-6 and IL-10 secretion by macrophages and monocytes. J Leukoc Biol 87:25-34
Qin, Zhiqiang; Dai, Lu; Slomiany, Mark G et al. (2010) Direct activation of emmprin and associated pathogenesis by an oncogenic herpesvirus. Cancer Res 70:3884-9
Qin, Zhiqiang; Kearney, Patricia; Plaisance, Karlie et al. (2009) Pivotal Advance: Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)-encoded microRNA specifically induce IL-6 and IL-10 secretion by macrophages and monocytes. J Leukoc Biol :
Parsons, Christopher H; Adang, Laura A; Overdevest, Jon et al. (2006) KSHV targets multiple leukocyte lineages during long-term productive infection in NOD/SCID mice. J Clin Invest 116:1963-73
Adang, Laura A; Parsons, Christopher H; Kedes, Dean H (2006) Asynchronous progression through the lytic cascade and variations in intracellular viral loads revealed by high-throughput single-cell analysis of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection. J Virol 80:10073-82