Ps. Moore et Y. Chang, ANTIVIRAL ACTIVITY OF TUMOR-SUPPRESSOR PATHWAYS - CLUES FROM MOLECULAR PIRACY BY KSHV, Trends in genetics, 14(4), 1998, pp. 144-150
A common feature of many tumor viruses is that they possess genes that
produce specific proteins to inhibit major cellular tumor-suppressor
pathways. Despite intensive studies, the reasons why these diverse and
unrelated viruses have independently evolved oncogenes remains obscur
e. Kaposi-sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV or HHV8) has pirated a
number of recognizable cellular genes that are key to cell survival an
d proliferation In this review we provide an overview of the known act
ivities of these viral genes and show that many of these pirated prote
ins affect the same cellular pathways targeted by other, unrelated tum
or viruses. We speculate that tumor-suppressor pathways are used by th
e cell as a primary defense against persistent virus infection in addi
tion to their well-known activity in regulating cell proliferation.