Y. Lunardiiskandar et al., TUMORIGENESIS AND METASTASIS OF NEOPLASTIC KAPOSIS-SARCOMA CELL-LINE IN IMMUNODEFICIENT MICE BLOCKED BY A HUMAN-PREGNANCY HORMONE, Nature, 375(6526), 1995, pp. 64-68
KAPOSI's sarcoma (KS) occurs more often in men than in women and HIV-1
-associated KS has a high occurrence in homosexual men (over 30%). Mos
t cultures of KS tumours yield cells with properties of hyperplastic (
not malignant) endothelial cells under the control of several cytokine
s(1-7). The role of HIV-1 may be in promoting high levels of some cyto
kines and providing stimulation to angiogenesis by the HIV-1 Tat prote
in(8), which synergizes with basic fibroblast growth factor in promoti
ng these effects(9), Here,ve describe an immortalized AIDS-KS cell lin
e (KS Y-1) and show that these cells produce malignant metastatic tumo
urs in nude mice and are killed in vitro and in vivo (apparently by ap
optosis) by a pregnancy hormone, the beta-chain of human chorionic gon
adotropin. Similarly, chorionic gonadotropin kills KS SLK, cells from
another neoplastic cell line (established from a non-HIV-associated KS
)(10), as well as the hyperplastic KS cells from clinical specimens gr
own in short-term culture, but does not kill normal endothelial cells,
These results provide evidence that KS can evolve into a malignancy a
nd have implications for the hormonal treatment of this tumour.