GENETIC AND BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF THE KSHV LANA GENE: AIDS OI

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), is a gamma-2-herpesvirus linked with Kaposi's Sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and multicentric Castleman's disease. KSHV is predominantly latent, with the double-stranded DNA genome maintained as a circular, extrachromosomal episome (plasmid) from which only a subset of viral genes is expressed, including latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA). LANA is required to both replicate and partition viral genomes to progeny nuclei during mitosis; LANA partitions episomes by tethering KSHV DNA to mitotic chromosome. The N-terminus of LANA attaches to chromosomes through core histones. This research aims to identify the interacting cellular proteins that may be required for LANA homologs from other gamma-2-herpesviruses to attach to mitotic chromosomes.