title: Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus encodes a functional bcl-2 homologue.
abstract: Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a newly discovered herpesvirus etiologically associated with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and two lymphoproliferative disorders. We describe a KSHV vbcl-2 gene with homology to the proto-oncogene bcl-2. It is expressed in KS lesions and in cell lines derived from primary effusion lymphomas. Using yeast and human cells we demonstrate the ability of KSHV vBcl-2 protein to suppress Bax toxicity. We show that KSHV vBcl-2 heterodimerizes with human Bcl-2 in a yeast two-hybrid system. These results suggest that KSHV vBcl-2 plays an anti-apoptotic role in virus infected cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarid
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bohenzky
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015870:Gene Expression; D005814:Genes, Viral; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2