CHARACTERIZATION OF A CHEMOKINE RECEPTOR-RELATED GENE IN HUMAN HERPESVIRUS-8 AND ITS EXPRESSION IN KAPOSIS-SARCOMA

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is a recently discovered virus that is hig hly associated with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and AIDS-associated body cav ity lymphomas, although it is also found in some normal individuals. H HV-8 is related by nucleotide sequence homology to herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), which causes T cell lymphomas in some New World monkeys, and t o Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a human herpesvirus linked etiologically w ith Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We report that, l ike HVS but unlike EBV, HHV-8 contains a gene (ORF74) with significant sequence homology to the high-affinity IL-8 receptor, a member of the alpha (CXC) chemokine receptor family of transmembrane G protein-coup led receptors. We also show by reverse transcription PCR that the chem okine receptor-related HHV-8 gene is detectable in some RNA samples fr om KS tissue, and that its expression varies independently from that o f ORF26, a minor capsid protein. The presence of a potential chemokine receptor in HHV-8 and its expression in KS tissue suggests that it ma y be important in the regulation of viral gene expression and may play a role in the etiology of KS and AIDS-related body cavity lymphomas. (C) 1997 Academic Press.