VALIDATING VIL-6 AS A TARGET FOR KSHV-ASSOCIATED DISEASE

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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. Preliminary studies in rhesus macaques reveal that macaques experimentally infected with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and a rhesus human herpesvirus 8 homologue (RhHHV8) develop B cell hyperplasia compared to macaques infected with SIV alone. The RhHHV8, like HHV8/Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), encodes an interleukin-6 (IL-6) homologue. The viral IL-6 homologue in HHV8/KSHV is thought to be a necessary growth factor for Kaposi's sarcoma and the B cell-derived malignancy referred to as body cavity based lymphomas or primary effusion lymphoma in AIDS patients also infected with HHV8/KSHV. The long-term objectives of this study aim to evaluate the role of the RhHHV8 IL-6 homologue in viral-mediated B cell hyperplasia in the context of an SIV infection. The results from these studies should help elucidate the role of the vIL-6 in virus infection and provide new insights into the future development of diagnostics and therapies for gamma-2 herpesvirus-induced malignancies.